A group of 38 Sri Lankan Tamils, including five women and five children, has been detained by police in Kollam in Kerala.
They had been found staying in a lodge under suspicious circumstances. Police and officials of the Intelligence Bureau have been grilling them since last night. They said the Sri Lankans from the island’s Northern region appeared to have assembled in Kochi en route to Australia with the help of a local travel agent. While some of them came through the sea route from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, others had arrived in Kerala by flight through Kochi.
The officials said those who entered through Tamil Nadu seemed to have stayed there for some time and reached Kochi through Kumali on the 2nd of this month.
They were arrested after a tip-off from Tamil Nadu Intelligence Department.
The women and children were allowed to remain in the hotel, while the men were taken to a local police station for questioning and examination of travel documents. Police added that some of them did not have proper documents.
Police investigations now reveal that two such groups numbering 50 have already reached Australia. The details emerged after the interrogation of the agent who brought the group of men and women to Kollam.