The Tamil Nadu Q Branch police arrested a Sri Lankan, who attempted to clandestinely leave for Sri Lanka by taking an illegal boat ride from Mandapam near Tamil Nadu.

Acting on a tip-off, a Q Branch police team, headed by Inspector of Police R. Kennedy, detained the Lankan Tamil, identified as P. Abdul Haq (27), when he tried to flee to Talaimannar by engaging a boat from Mandapam.

He was handed over to the local police who arrested him under Sections 14(a) and (c) of the Foreigners Act, 1946, read with 5(i) (a) (b) of the Foreigners Order, 1948 and Sections 419 and 116 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was remanded in judicial custody by a local Magistrate on Sunday and being taken to Chennai to be lodged at Puzhal Central Prison, the police said.

Hailing from Pothuvil in Ampara district of Sri Lanka, Haq had arrived in Tamil Nadu in 2012 and stayed in Kadayanallur in Tirunelveli district for one and a half years, when he joined a mosque and learnt ‘asrat’, the police said.

He later worked in a mosque at Ragunathapuram in Pudukottai district, though his three-month visa expired long back. As he could not use his passport to fly back to Sri Lanka, he tried to get a fresh Indian passport, the police said.

After managing to obtain an Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC), he had applied for the passport but had to leave urgently as his father fell ill and arrangements had been made for his marriage in his hometown, the police said. Through a contact in Madurai, he reached Mandapam, the Hindu reports.