Cops to get tough on other Lankans in State

KOCHI: Innumerable number of Sri Lankan Tamils are still holed up in various parts of the state even as the Kerala police have geared up to launch a massive operation to flush them out.Police have decided to take up an operation in this regard after they ascertained credible inputs from the Tamils who landed in police custody in Kochi.State Director General of Police (DGP) Jacob Punnoose told 'Express' that the police were aware of the activities of the human traffickers operating in the state."We will continue with the operations to bust the human trafficking rackets. We were successful in thwarting the attempts of human trafficking rackets twice in Kerala," the DGP said."We are yet to comprehend how they manage to go to Australia in fishing trawlers, which usually do not have the capacity to take intercontinental voyage," he said, and added that a detailed probe was on.It is learnt that the Tamil Nadu Q branch officials have shared information with the Kerala police about those suspects who have brought a large group of Lankan Tamils to Kerala for illegally taking them to SouthEast Asian nations and Australia.The Q branch officials were in Kochi to quiz the 17 Lankan Tamils, who had been taken to custody on Tuesday.The Q Branch officials will be taking back 13 of the Lankan Tamils to the refugee camps in Tamil Nadu, while the Kochi city police had arrested four and registered cases against them for entering the country without valid travel documents.The police have made the 13 Lankan Tamils which included two women and two children as witnesses in the case.