NAGAPATTINAM: A 40-year-old man from Poland was arrested for illegally entering India through Kodiyakarai in Nagapattinam district. The police began investigating the possibility of an illegal entry after an inflatable kayak was found shored up near Kodiyakarai (Point Calimere) in Nagapattinam district on Sunday.
It is found out that a 40-year-old Polish national named Władysław Franoszek Matuszewski had entered the country illegally in the kayak. The police arrested him and are investigating his entry.
"We learnt that the man had visited Sri Lanka as a tourist around 2019. He says he got arrested for an altercation near Weligama in Sri Lanka many months ago. His passport was seized and was also unable to leave Sri Lanka. So, he came to India illegally believing that he could return home to his country. We are communicating to the Embassy of Poland about the arrest for his illegal entry," Nagapattinam SP G Jawahar told The New Indian Express after interrogating the Polish national.
The kayak landing triggered a major concern over coastal security on Sunday as the international sporting event, 44th Chess Olympiad is beginning in Chennai on July 28. Officials from various law enforcement agencies also visited Kodiyakarai and inspected the landing.
DIG (Thanjavur range) A Kayalvizhi insisted on a wider and intensive investigation of the kayak landing. The police took various actions like sniffer dog detection and drone aerial search near the reserve forest area near Kodiyakarai.
They also checked the surveillance footage and inspected the lodges in Vedaranyam for possible accommodation of suspects. Meanwhile, the coastal security group and intelligence alerted the fisherfolk panchayats in villages in Vedaranyam about the possible illegal foreign entry.
Matuszewski allegedly slept and spent the Sunday near the reserve forest. Then, he walked up to the neighbouring village Arukatuthurai around evening where the local fishers spotted him. "The foreigner was roaming near the main road when our men spotted him around 10 pm. He first asked in English for an ATM to possibly withdraw some cash. Our men offered him a lift. The foreigner refused and asked for a route to go to Chennai. Our men became suspicious. He had a four-digit number tattooed on his throat. We informed the police about him," M Murugan, a representative from Arukatuthurai fisherfolk panchayat told The New Indian Express.
The police took Matuszewski to Vedaranyam Town Police Station where he was interrogated. Matuszewski initially cooperated with the investigation before wishing to speak to the Embassy of Poland. Matuszewski allegedly ordered the kayak through online shopping in Sri Lanka.
The fisheries department told The New Indian Express that it is highly unlikely that Matuszewski could have rowed from Jaffna in Sri Lanka due to the 20 nautical mile distance and the unpredictable nature of weather and waters between Point Pedro and Point Calimere.
They said Matuszewski may have come in a motorized boat from Sri Lanka for some distance and then used the inflatable kayak to land at Kodiyakarai. Matuszewski was booked under the Foreigners Act (1946) and Passports Act (1967).
The police said he would be produced before a magistrate in Vedaranyam on Monday and remanded to judicial custody, possibly in Chennai. Further investigations are underway.