The Indian Intelligence Bureau has confirmed that the fishing boat seized by the Sri Lankan Navy off Colombo coast, was built at a boat yard in Munambam, India.

The boat carrying 66 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees was reportedly on its way to Australia, when intercepted by a Fast Naval Patrol Craft attached to the Southern Naval Command of Sri Lankan Navy at 13 nautical miles off Hikkaduwa last week.

According to the IB report, the boat was made a few years ago and sold to a Tamil Nadu native last year.

“The boat ‘Aswani’ was first owned by a Keralite and then sold to a person in Tamil Nadu, who is yet to be identified. We have interrogated the Keralite and he submitted that the buyer was from Tuticorin. The boat was repainted before it started the voyage to Australia. The Tamils who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy were refugees living at a camp in Coimbatore. Intelligence Bureau suspects that the boat started its voyage from Kerala or Karnataka coast,” an IB official said.

A probe by the State Special branch found that as many as 250 Lankan Tamils were trafficked to Australia in the last one year. A top official of the Special Branch said that plight of the Tamils in refugee camps are forcing them to flee to other nations. “Kerala and Karnataka coasts are used for launching such ‘adventures’. The agents prefer western coasts as it is safer than eastern coasts. In last one year, as many as five similar attempts were foiled by enforcement agencies from Kerala and Karnataka coastal areas,” an official said, New Indian Express reports.