At least nine Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who attempted to illegally ferry to Australia from the coastal town of Oriyur in Tamil Nadu were arrested by the Indian police last night.

Police said they had come from different refugee camps in the State and had been staying in rooms attached to St. Arulanandar Church at Oriyur for the past two days when police zeroed in on them on Friday night.

They started moving out after realising that police had sensed the ‘human trafficking’ when local and Q branch police arrested them.

Six of them were arrested near the church premises, while three others, who tried to escape in a car, were intercepted and arrested at Devakottai.

Police seized the car and questioned the refugees at SP Pattinam police station before bringing them to the headquarters here for further questioning, sources said. “They were to be illegally ferried to Australia when police arrested them,” Superintendent of Police said. (The Hindu)