Lankan held with ganja in India

The Tamil Nadu Q Branch police detained a Sri Lankan national when he attempted to smuggle 10 kg of ganja from Pamban seashore near here in the early hours of Tuesday, the Hindu reported.

Acting on a tip-off, a special team, led by Q Branch Inspector of Police R. Kennedy, detained the Lankan Tamil when he was preparing to smuggle the contraband to Talaimannar in Sri Lanka through the sea route by engaging a boat.

The police identified the accused as S. Prasanthan (24) of Mannar district. Interrogation revealed that Prasanthan arrived at Madurai airport on March 17 on a valid passport and three months’ tourist visa. He stayed with his relatives at Batlagundu.

After visiting his uncle at Mandapam last week, he went to Madurai railway station as instructed by his ‘boss’, a Keralite operating in Sri Lanka, and received the contraband from a contact. He was waiting for the boat when the Q Branch police detained him.

The modus operandi was that he would take the contraband up to International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and hand it over to his contact after receiving money. After making the payment for the contraband here, he would fly back to Colombo, Mr. Kennedy said. The leader of the smuggling gang deputed him to directly handle the operation as the local contacts tried to cheat him, Mr. Kennedy said. This was the second trip made by the accused, he said, adding he had visited India in 2011 for a smuggling operation. Prasanthan was handed over to Pamban police, who arrested him.