A batch of 21 Sri Lankan refugees hailing from the north-eastern part of the island Republic arrived india by a boat in the wee hours of Wednesday. The refugees, including six women and nine children, belonged to two families from Trincomalee and Vauniya districts, officials said. One of the refugees Kokila Devi said her two brothers were pulled out of their house and shot dead on June 11 by a group of persons who spoke in Sinhalese and Tamil, believed to part of Sri Lankan paramilitary forces.

She said there had been frequent firing in their area.