Attempt to send Lankans to Australia foiled

KOCHI: An attempt by a human trafficking racket to send a group of Sri Lankans from Kochi to Australia was thwarted by the City Police on Tuesday.The police said they had taken 11 Sri Lankans, including two children, into custody from a lodge in the city based on an intelligence input that a racket was attempting to take Sri Lankans from Kochi to a foreign country. The Central police team conducted a surprise raid on the lodge and took the Sri Lankans into custody. They were later shifted to the Central Police Station for detailed interrogation.Preliminary investigation revealed that the Lankans had been camping in the city for the past one month. They were planning to board a flight from the Cochin International Airport, police said.A detailed investigation is on to collect more details about the persons.The state police have been on an alert after they arrested at least 38 Lankans from a lodge in Kollam in May 2010. Investigation at that time revealed that the Lankan Tamils were brought to Kerala by a racket based in Tamil Nadu for taking them illegally to Australia. The state police, in coordination with the Tamil Nadu police, also arrested a person identified as Shivakumar alias Shiva, of Jaffna, who was the kingpin of a humantrafficking racket that had alleged links with the LTTE.