Pakistani men arrested in Tangalle fined, jailed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 August 2003, 03:01 GMT]
Two hundred and fifty-four Pakistani men, arrested by the Sri Lanka Police in Tangalle and handed over to the Crime Investigation Department, were produced before the Tangalle Magistrate Wednesday and the Magistrate gave a fine of 50,000 rupees each and 1 year of rigorous imprisonment, legal sources said.

The 254 Pakistani men were traveling in a ship in the Tangalle seas when the Sri Lanka Navy arrested them. Press reports said that the men were being trafficked to foreign countries.

The Police charged that they were in the country illegally. The men all entered guilty pleas and accepted the fine, totaling 12.7 million rupees, the sources said.

The Magistrate ordered that if the men failed to pay their fine, an additional two months of imprisonment would follow.

Sri Lankan natives who were with the Pakistani men in the ship, including some sailors, entered a plea of not guilty and were remanded by the Magistrate till August 27.