Coimbatore:
Three Sri Lankan karate fighters could not participate in an international Karate championship at Pollachi town, about 43 km from Coimbatore, as organisers asked them to return to their country after protests by some pro-Eelam outfits, police said.
The Sri Lankan participants were supposed to participate in the tourney which began last night. But some activists of Periyar Dravida Kazhakam and like-minded organisations lodged a protest with organisers for inviting them, saying the island nation's government was not allowing Tamils there to live peacefully.
Since the team had already arrived in Chennai, the organisers asked them to not to come to Pollachi and to return to their country, police said.