Chennai: Four members of a gang, which allegedly sent some Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from the state to various countries including Australia via Nepal using fake passports to avoid detection, have been arrested.
The gang, all of them Sri Lankan Tamils, had used fake Indian passports to send Tamil refugees to various countries, a senior police official said today.
Some documents, fake passports and Rs 1.50 lakh cash were among the seizures made by 'Q' branch police that deals with national security.
Lingaran alias Athiyaman (43), Bala (48), Thanshan (22) Jeyadasan (43) were produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody in Puzhal Central Prison.
The gang had allegedly taken money from gullible Tamil refugees staying in camps in Tamil Nadu to "facilitate" their illegal journey by using fake passports.
The matter is being probed further, said the official who declined to disclose details, including the possible number of refugees who may have exited via Nepal to other countries.
Six persons, including five Sri Lankan Tamils, allegedly involved in a similar fake passport racket were arrested near Egmore railway station here on June 23 last year.
They were arrested following an alert from Interpol and later detained at Puzhal prison.
