Landed. Stranded

A businessman in Kerala tries hard to rid himself of an ‘LTTE’ boat, with no luck

KOCHI – On 1 January 2008, TA Sudhan, who runs a boatyard in Munambam Harbour of Kochi, woke up when a friend rang with troubling news. He told him that the harbour would soon be raided by the police; word was at that somebody had constructed a boat for the LTTE.

Sudhan, also the secretary of the Boat Owners Welfare Association, called up every member with the news. No one had heard or seen anything.  At half-past noon, the police arrived, with camera crews in tow. The boat, they said, was on Sudhan’s property.

These were officers from the Q-branch of Tamil Nadu Police and cops from the local station. They spotted a boat in the final stages of construction and seized it. “I was relieved to know they did not suspect me,” Sudhan says. The police arrested Benny, the boat’s contractor. Sudhan, however, trusted Benny, and with other members of the association, tried convincing the cops of his innocence.  Incidentally, during the course of their investigation, the Q branch found that Benny was innocent and released him.

By 2009, the investigation was completed and two Tamil men were arrested. Both were sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment, but the police could not gather any evidence to prove the LTTE connection.

For Sudhan, even though the case was legally closed, this was just the beginning of his ordeal. The boat had remained in his yard. Sudhan asked permission several times to remove it. “It occupies a major portion of my yard,” he says. “It causes inconvenience to the construction of other boats.”

The fisheries department, which has been given legal custody of the boat, shrugs off responsibility. “We are only caretakers. We can’t give permission to remove the boat. It has become a headache for us too,” says P Sairabanu, joint director of Fisheries. The local police has advised Sudhan to approach the Q branch. Sudhan has written to them twice. No reply.

Sudhan has given up. “I’m used to this headache. It has become a part of my life.” And he laughs.

About The Author

Shahina KK