Coast Guard nabs 2 Sri Lankan refugees

According to ICG sources, the duo, who were trying to go back to Sri Lanka, were residents of the Anaiyur camp in Madurai since 1990.

The detention took place after the ICG personnel, who were on a regular patrolling duty, noticed a fibre reinforced plastic boat bearing Sri Lanka registration numbers drifting in the sea. As the ICG personnel had a suspicion, they checked the boat. The refugees were found in possession of Rs 1.09 lakh in cash, besides some US and Hong Kong dollars.

The men, identified as P Sivarajan (43) and Anbukumaran (39), were then handed over to the Coastal Security Group (CSG), Mandapam.

The refugees, who ran three hotels in Madurai, were in debt after the business suffered losses. In a bid to settle their debt by disposing of their assets in SL, the refugees along with two other refugees decided to cross over to the Island nation.

However, the other two refugees left them stranded at mid sea after their boat developed a technical snag. Since the refugees on board did not know to swim, they decided to stay on the boat.