Indian police reportedly busted a human trafficking racket in Mangalore and rescued around 68 Sri Lankan refugees preparing to be ferried to Australia.
It is said that Sri Lankan refugees who were in Tamil Nadu were promised jobs in Australia, and for this purpose they were brought to Mangalore, and from here arrangements were being made to send them off to Australia by sea, media reports said.
A few of the persons who were brought to the city were spotted wandering around in various places in the district, which aroused police suspicion and subsequently led to their arrest, it is said.
All these suspects have escaped from the Kummipoondi, Chenkalpattu, Poontamali and several other refugee camps in Tamil Nadu.
Police has arrested the 2 agents involved in the human smuggling.
It may be recalled that on September 8, 2012, a similar racket was busted in the city wherein 84 Sri Lankan refugees were rescued at New Mangalore Port and 14 persons had been arrested.
In that case too, the refugees had been brought to the city with promises of being sent to a foreign country for employment. It was termed as the major case of human trafficking in the state of Karnataka. Unconfirmed sources said that the same gang might be involved this time too.
- Agencies
