Kerala cops arrest five for illegally ferrying Lankans

“One man identified as S Arumugham (43) from Kolappakam and four others, including Selvam and Ilayaraja from Tiruvallur were taken into custody by the Kerala police on Wednesday night and taken to Kerala. They were arrested for ferrying 100 people, mainly Sri Lankan Tamils, from Munambam in Kochi on January 12,” police sources said on Thursday.

Arumugham was nabbed from Thousand Lights along with another person named Mariselvam. After verification, Mariselvam was allowed to go home while Arumugham was taken to Kerala by the Ernakulam district police.

All the five are believed to be part of a gang that lured Lankan refugees for the dangerous ocean journey in fishing boats after collecting hefty amounts from them.

The immigrants left Munambam for New Zealand and Australia in a boat named Devamata-2. It is believed that most of them are from Ambedkar Colony in Delhi.

The Kerala police had already arrested three persons, including two from Delhi and one from Kerala, in the last week of January.

The accused were booked under Sections 109, 120 (b), 468, 471and relevant sections of the Indian Passport Act, Emigration Act and Foreigners Act. The police said that the accused had committed offences like arrangement for the purchase of the boat and mobilisation of potential immigrants after collecting money from them.