Colombo, July 20: Sri Lankan Police today arrested 83 Indians, 22 Pakistanis and nine Bangladeshis, who had arrived in the island to travel illegally to Italy, officials said. With today's arrest of 114 persons in Kandy, 112 kms east from here, the number of foreign nationals held this month rose to 484.
On Friday, police arrested 112 Indians and nine Pakistanis before they could board a ship to travel to Italy from Sri Lanka's southern coast. A local magistrate has remanded them till July 29.
Another batch of 254 Pakistan men arrested earlier this month have also been remanded till July 29. Police believe that they were kept in Kandy by people smugglers to be transported to a southern beach to catch a ferry or a ship to travel to Europe illegally.
Police said they believed the men had arrived in the island recently with a view to taking an illegal ferry to Italy. The men were being questioned, officials said.
Sri Lankan fishermen were known to operate modified fishing trawlers to make a hazardous three-week journey to the Red Sea from where the would-be illegal immigrants were transferred to rogue ships. The larger vessels, mostly from former Soviet republics, would carry the illegal immigrants to European shores.
What were once operations solely to smuggle locals to Europe, Japan or Australia have now attracted nationals from neighbouring countries following the easing of entry visas to Sri Lanka, police added. Bureau Report