An alert raised over the sighting of a rogue boat, suspected to be of LTTE, off Kochi in Kerala on Monday, turned out to be a mistake. Kochi and the adjoining coastal areas were on high security alert after a tip off that few miscreants with arms were seen on a boat near Cherthala beach in Alleppey district.

Following a fax message to police by navy stating that a group of suspected LTTE militants could have sneaked into the state, the security forces swung into action, laying check points at all entry roads to the city. Even the commandos were deployed.

"This is not a confirmed report, so no one need to panic. We are verifying if someone has come from the other place. Still we are on high," said Jacob Punnose, Director General of Police.

Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have been intensively patrolling the waters off India's southern tip as the Tamil Tiger rebels face rout at the hands of Sri Lankan army in the LTTE's strongholds in the island.