'Q' branch sleuths detain Sri Lankan nationals planning Australia trip

Tuticorin: The Q branch sleuths detained nine Sri Lankan nationals from a lodge at Tiruchendur on Sunday evening on grounds that they were trying to embark on a voyage to Australia. They are searching for an agent who lured the group from the island nation to Tiruchendur in guise of arranging ferry for them.
The nine-member team - eight men and one woman - from Jaffna and surrounding areas in Sri Lanka had come to India on three-month visas.They reached India through Madurai and Trichy airports, and have been roaming around various places like Rameswaram, Velankanni, Thanjavur and Nagapattinam areas as tourists.
"The aim of this team is to go to Australia and someone back in Sri Lanka promised to help them and sent them to India claiming that Sri Lankan waters are well guarded. They were told that the voyage will be arranged from Indian waters," said a Q official at Tuticorin. He ruled out possibilities of such a voyage from Tuticorin waters due to higher vigilance.
After running out of money, the group was stranded at a lodge in Tiruchendur and were trying to go back to Sri Lanka asking their contacts in the Island nation to make travel arrangements. "We picked them up after five Sri Lankan nationals were held by our department at Kanyakumari under similar conditions," the official added.
After the interrogation, the Tuticorin Q branch sent the nine Sri Lankan nationals to Kanyakumari to be handed over to the Kanyakumari Q branch for further investigation. They have valid passports and visa till July. They are likely to be deported back to Sri Lanka, official sources said.
Q branch sources say that fake agents are minting money luring Sri Lankan nationals as well as Lankan refugees in India with the promise of sending them to Australia.
On June 19, nine refugees from a camp in Vellore went missing and returned back after some days. Investigations revealed that they were promised to be taken to Australia by some agents, who failed to turn out.
Meanwhile, Coastal Security Group officials have seized a Kerala registered fishing vessel, which was stranded in the Old Harbour area of Muttom coast in Kanyakumari. The boat was painted above registration details. The Q branch suspect that the fishing vessel was to ferry refugees or Sri Lankan nationals to Australia.