NEW DELHI, Sept 4: A group of 183 Sri Lankan pilgrims were set to leave Tamil Nadu on Tuesday night on a special flight arranged by the Lankan authorities after they faced protests by Tamil activists, Express News Service said.

“They had been heckled during a pilgrimage to the Poondi Matha church near Thanjavur on Monday for an annual festival. Escorted out of the church on Tuesday morning and taken to a Christian shrine in neighbouring

Vailankannai, they faced more protests. Later three of the seven buses carrying them to the Trichy airport for their flight back home also faced protests,” the agency said.

Sri Lanka issued a travel advisory asking its citizens not to visit Tamil Nadu until further notice in the wake of “increasing number of instances of intimidation” of Lankans in the state. However, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman assured that India would take all measures to ensure their safety and security.

“I wish to convey that the government of India, in close consultation with the concerned state governments, has taken and will continue to take all measures to ensure the safety, security and well-being of Sri Lankan dignitaries and visitors to India, including to Tamil Nadu,” the spokesperson said.The latest anti-Lanka protests in Tamil Nadu follow Chief Minister J.

Jayalalitha's stepping up her objection to Lankan defence personnel receiving training in India. On Sunday she ordered that a football team from Royal College of Colombo, which played a friendly match against the Customs department in Chennai last week, as well as eight students of a Lankan school who had come for a tournament be sent back. A stadium officer who gave permission for the football match was suspended under Jayalalithaa’s orders.