Sri Lankan Tamil held

He says he was targeted by Sinhalese parties for having campaigned for TNA

The Danushkodi police have arrested a Sri Lankan Tamil who clandestinely landed at Arichal Munai off Danushkodi on Wednesday morning.

M. Selvakrishnan (37), who arrived by a fibreglass boat, was arrested after locals alerted the police.

Selvakrishnan told the police that he had paid Rs. 10,000 to the boat riders for the transit.

He said he was targeted by some Sinhalese parties for having campaigned for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in the just-concluded Northern Provincial Council elections.

A painter by profession, he had actively engaged in wall paintings in support of the TNA in the run up to the elections and incurred the wrath of the Sinhalese parties. As he feared threat to his life, he decided to move to Tamil Nadu, he told the police.

Enquiries revealed that he had come to Tamil Nadu as a refugee in 1984 and stayed in a camp in Tiruchi before returning to Jaffna in 2011.

He was arrested under section 3 (a) read with 6(a) of Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950 and section 14 of the Foreigners Act.

He was produced before a Magistrate who remanded him in judicial custody.

He was being taken to Chennai to be lodged at the Puzhal central prison, the police said.