RAMANATHAPURAM: The Indian Coast Guard's (ICG) hovercraft patrol unit found three Sri Lankan nationals in the fourth sandbar near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) on Saturday morning. They were later handed over to the marine police for further investigation.
Official sources said that based on information about three people being stranded in the fourth sandbar, the ICG Mandapam unit deployed the hovercraft patrol team to check the sandbar by 9 am and found Lankan nationals S Kabilan (34), L Mathivilangu Asutha Gunathilaga (33), and Sumithrolan Fernando (43), and brought them to Arichalmunai by 9.45 am and handed them over to the marine police for further investigation.
Officials said that the primary investigation revealed that there had been previous criminal cases against the trio, and that they arrived at Mannar on Friday night, from where they took a ferry and attempted to migrate to India and later flee elsewhere.