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| Sunday, 3 April 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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That fiasco in Red Sea : Fate of missing not known Crime Sunday by Jaympathy Jayasinghe What was the fate of the four Sri Lankans who were reported missing from
the boat which was seized by the Egyptian authorities in the Red
According to police however these people may have taken ill and died as a result of long travel in a unhygienic congested boat without proper medical care. No one seems to know the cause of deaths of these four persons. According to unconfirmed reports however some passengers may have seen the bodies of these people being thrown overboard by the crew. The smugglers however would have silenced the passengers not to divulge anything by resorting to threats. Whatever the reason the deaths or the disappearances of these four people have to be thoroughly investigated. Meanwhile it was revealed that several policemen too had gone on the voyage to Italy. It was also rumoured that some policemen had in fact helped human smugglers to arrange this voyage. Meanwhile the CID has launched an investigation to find out who these policemen are and from where they came from. Investigations have revealed that each person had paid sums ranging from Rs. 50,000 to 200,000 to the organiser of the human smuggling racket. Subsequently it also came to light that a former sub-inspector of police residing in the Wennappuwa area was the mastermind behind the smuggling operation racket. The suspect is wanted by the police for several other smuggling operations as well. But according to police the suspect is missing from his home and is evading arrest. Another suspect involved in the racket was arrested and was subsequently remanded by courts. In January the Anti -smuggling unit of the CID was tipped off about the rogue boat which was on its way to Italy with 141 people, However by the time the police got there the 40 ft. boat named Nimi Kumara had left the shores of Wennappuwa. The boat in a dilapidated condition was not sea worthy at all. The smugglers made sure that the passengers were locked up in cramped compartments. Although the boat had a capacity to carry only 50 passengers it had carried 91 people in excess. It was a perilous voyage in an over loaded boat. Initially there were protests from passengers when they climbed into the boat.The crowd became restless when they found the boat was overcrowded. But the smugglers managed to calm the passengers by saying that they would be transferred to another boat at mid sea. But this never happened and the boat continued its journey. However the boat developed engine trouble whilst in the Red Sea and was tugged to Port of Eden in Yemen for repairs. When the local agents came to know about it, a team of repair men were flown to Yemen to attend to its repairs. Thereafter the boat continued its journey once again. But the boat developed engine trouble whilst in the Red sea which caught the attention of Egyptian authorities. According to unconfirmed reports it all happened with the refusals of passengers to yield to the demands of the Mafia to extract 100 dollars from each passenger. This ultimate had led to their arrest. It was a known fact that the mafia operates in collaboration with some corrupt officials to smuggle humans to Europe. They had to be bribed to get past the Suez canal. Senior Supdt. of Police Samaratunga told Sunday Observer last January that the boat bound to Italy had diverted its course in Egypt to avoid authorities. However according to reports last week the Egyptian Police had detained 137 people bound to Italy. They were nabbed in the Red Sea whilst in the territorial waters of Egypt. The fate of the four Sri Lankans missing are still not known as yet. Meanwhile police have questioned relatives of those who were nabbed in Egypt and further investigations are being made to arrest the other suspects. Although the journey to Italy by boat takes 25-30 days, the boat which left Wennappuwa on January 28 took more than 45 days to reach the Red Sea due to constant engine failure. Frequent breakdowns was a result of hauling a big load for thousands of miles sources say. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
Sea last
week? No one seems to have any clue of their fate, although it was widely
reported that the bodies of two Sri Lankans who died due to unknown reasons
were thrown overboard. But what is shocking most, is that another two more
persons believed to have died in the boat were also thrown overboard into
the Red Sea, according to unconfirmed reports reaching Colombo. 
