Four Indians booked for illegal immigration bid of refugees

Thanjavur: Four Indians and 30 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have been booked for allegedly undertaking an illegal voyage to Australia in a boat via Sri Lanka from this district, police said on Thursday.

Following information on arrest of the refugees in Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu police had launched a probe and found that the boat used for the illegal transportation was from Adirampattinam, they said.

Further investigations revealed that the 30 Rohingya refugees had come from Myanmar in 2013 and were registered as refugees in India.

They came to Tamil Nadu last year and have been residing in Adirampattinam since January last, police said.

In an effort to migrate to Australia, they had allegedly contacted one Abdul Rasheed and Habeeb Rahman of Adiramapattinam.

On April 28, they left for Australia in a fibre boat arranged by the duo, but were detained by Sri Lankan Coast Guard at Kangesanthurai Port there.

Meanwhile, Adirampattinam Marine police had on May 2 registered a case under various sections of Foreigners Act, Passport Act, and IPC against the 30 foreigners and the four Indians including Abdul and Habeeb.

Subsequently, the case was transferred to Adirampattinam police for further investigations, they said.

Abdul Rasheed, Habeeb Rahman and some others were detained for interrogation, they added.