Indian Police on Monday busted a human trafficking racket involving six Sri Lankan Tamils by taking into custody four racketeers including a fisherman from the island nation when the job-seekers moved towards the coast at Surareddypalem, near Ongole, on Monday, according to Superintendent of Police Ch.Srikanth.

The four racketeers including a Sri Lankan national and two from Chennai had brought to Ongole the six Sri Lankan Tamils with a promise to send them to Australia in a cargo ship from Prakasam coast after taking US dollars worth Rs. 5 lakh from them, the SP said.

Those taken into custody were identified as Shanmugha Lingam (47) from Sri Lanka, Barnabas (51) and his wife Anjali (46), both from Chennai, and Bhaskar (45) from Ongole.

The six Sri Lankan Tamils were moving under suspicious circumstances and on questioning they spilled the beans, the SP said, adding that they were promised to be sent to Australia by sea without valid travel documents first by country boats up to 200 nautical miles and then in a cargo ship coming from either Kakinada or Visakhapatnam.

The six were being produced before an Executive Magistrate to record their confessions, the SP said. The six Sri Lankan Tamils had come to Chennai by air with valid travel documents from the island nation and were staying in Ongole for a week, DSP P. Joshua said. – The Hindu