Navy arrests 25 Tamil refugees in Mannar Sea

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 June 2005, 16:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Wednesday morning arrested twenty-five Tamil refugees returning from Tamilnadu in South India and the two boatmen in the Mannar Sea, sources said. The Talaimannar Police produced all of the arrested in Mannar Court Thursday morning.

The Police told court that the SLN personnel had recovered two kg of ganja, fifty bundles of beedi and a brand new Honda motor bicycle.

But none of the inmates in the boats claimed responsibility for the articles, legal sources said.

However the Magistrate Mr.N.M.M.Abdullah released the refugees, twelve men and thirteen women, and ordered remand for the two boatmen P.Sasikumar and M.Rajalingam.

Civil authorities took immediate steps to send the released refugees to their native villages in Trincomalee and Vavuniya districts, sources said.