Puducherry: Two more persons, including a
panchayat councillor, was detained on Wednesday under the National
Security Act in connection with the alleged attempt to
illegally send Lankan Tamil refugees to Australia from
Karaikal last month.
A Sakthivelu, councillor of Ariyankuppan Commune
panchayat near here, and Puducherry unit Periyar Dravidar
Kazhagam chief Logu Ayyappan were detained under the NSA on an
order issued by District Collector, Superintendent of Police
(CID) Ravindran told reporters here.
The number of those detained under the stringent NSA
in the case has now risen to three.
Police had yesterday booked PMK Karaikal district
secretary K Devamani under the stringent act. All the three
have since been lodged in the central prison here.
Meanwhile, Puducherry PMK unit convenor RKR
Anandaraman condemned the invoking of NSA against Devamani and
demanded his immediate release.
Alleging that the action was out of "political
vendetta", he said the PMK would hold a protest demonstration
in Karaikal on November 22.
The three were arrested for allegedly attempting to
send a group of 15 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees to Australia on
October 4 from Karaikal.
But with police intensifying vigil following a tip-
off, the plan was dropped and the boat to ferry the group was
abandoned in Karaikal shore.
Several instances of attempted human trafficking of
Sri Lankan Tamil refugees have been reported in neighbouring
Tamil Nadu in the past few months.
Two such attempts were foiled by police in September.
The refugees lodged in various camps in Tamil Nadu had
paid money to agents for taking them to Australia and Canada.
PTI
