A French national of Sri Lankan origin was arrested under the passport act at Arichal Munai at nearby Dhanuskodi today, police said.
They said, Francis Anthoni (45), hailing from Chidambaranathapuram in Vavuniya distict in Sri Lanka left for France in 2004 and later became a French citizen. He had come to India recently en route to Sri Lanka to meet his relatives there.
He tried to leave for Sri Lanka by an illegal ferry and had paid Rs 40,000 to one Shanmugam of Mandapam refugee camp. Shanmugam, in turn, had taken him to another person, S Muthukumar of Cherankottai, near here, police said.
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Later, the duo, took Francis in a country boat from Cherankottai and dropped him at Arichal Munai around mid-night last night informing him that Arichal Munai was part of Sri Lanka and he could go from there, police said.
Dhanuskodi police, who were patrolling the area, took Francis into custody and then arrested him for violating the passport act.
