Four persons, including a Sri Lankan national, were taken into custody from Ongole today for allegedly trafficking Sri Lankan Tamils to Australia via sea route, police said.
Shanmugalingam and three of his Indian associates were taken into custody based on an information that they were involved in trafficking Sri Lakan Tamils to Australia from the Prakasam coast, Prakasam district Superintendent of Police Ch Srikanth told PTI over phone.
"No one has been arrested and we are questioning the four," the SP said.
He said the modus operandi of the gang was to bring Sri Lankan Tamils to Chennai and then to Ongole in Prakasam district from where they used to take them in country boats in sea and later got them shifted into cargo ships heading towards Australia.
In the particular case, police spotted six Sri Lankan Tamils, who were to be taken to Australia, wandering under suspicious circumstances near Ongole, and after initial questioning they spilled the beans, he said.
"It seems the gang members had collected Rs 5 lakh each from the victims under the pretext of providing them jobs in Australia," the SP said.
