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Panchayat councillor, 3 others arrested for human trafficking
A councillor of commune panchayat and three others were arrested on charges of attempting to send some Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from here to a foreign country.
A councillor of commune panchayat and three others were arrested on charges of attempting to send some Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from here to a foreign country.
Talking to reporters here, Senior Superintendent of Police V J Chandran told reporters yesterday that cases under various sections of Indian Passport Act, Foreigners Act and IPC 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) were registered against Sakthivel, DMK councillor of Ariyankuppam commune panchayat and Jeeva, Kannan and Logu Ayyappan.
As there was no refugee camp in the union territory, the refugees were suspected to be from camps in Tamil Nadu.
Chandran said the CID police got a tip-off that some Sri Lankan Tamil refugees were being carried illegally in a boat allegedly owned by the councilor from Thengaithittu fishing harbor here on October four.
According to preliminary information the refugees were sought to be transported to Australia, he said.
Chandran said a detailed investigation was on and all the four would be remanded to custody.
