TIRUCHY: Sleuths of National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested nine inmates—all Sri Lankan nationals—of the Tiruchy special camp in connection with a drug smuggling case. Sources said the NIA team from Kerala, which was headed by SP Dharmaraj, sought permission from District Collector M Pradeep Kumar to record the arrests from the special camp that comes under the purview of the revenue department.
The nine arrested have been taken to Chennai, sources said, adding that they would be presented before the Poonamallee special court and later taken to Kerala. Based on the sources, the nine inmates have been identified as Gunasekaran, Pushparaj, Mohammed Aasmin, Kottakamini, Stanley Kennedy Fernando, Thanukarajan, Ladia, Vellasaranga, and Dhilip.
In 2021, police had seized drugs and weapons from a Lankan ship near Vizhinjam port, arresting six Lankan nationals in connection with it. An investigation revealed the nine of them, too, were linked to the smuggling bid. Earlier, NIA had searched the camp and confiscated cell phones. The special camp lodges foreign nationals involved in criminal acts, including passport forgery and illegal entry into the country.