Mangaluru (Karnataka): Police in Mangaluru say they have arrested at least 38 Sri Lankan nationals who were part of a human smuggling operation and on their way to Canada.
Mangaluru City Police Commissioner Shashi Kumar said 39 people had travelled from Sri Lanka to India in March. A Sri Lankan agent was planning to send people to Canada by collecting Rs 5 lakhs to 10 lakhs each. He has sent 39 persons by boat from Sri Lanka to Thoothukudi in the state of Tamil Nadu. They were then sent to Mangaluru as there was strict checking in the lodges during the election in Tamil Nadu in April.
"39 of them were living in the lodges and some in rented houses in Mangaluru. In the last month, 38 Sri Lankan nationals have been arrested and a search operation is underway for another person, Shashi Kumar added.
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The 38 Sri Lankan nationals detained in Mangaluru will be produced before the court after medical examination. There are massive human smuggling operation carried out by agents in Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu and Bengaluru and an investigation on their links to Mangaluru will be investigated. Various police departments have been informed as it is an internal security issue, he said.
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