Sri Lanka police hunt security forces group involved in human smuggling

The Criminal Investigation Department of Sri Lanka police is on the lookout for a group of security personnel involved in a human smuggling operation.
According to local media reports the group of security forces personnel is extorting money from Sri Lankans who are seeking to migrate to Australia illegally.

They reportedly promise the unsuspecting illegal migrants safe passage to Australia for heavy prices and later tip off the defense authorities on the migrating attempt. A majority of the people attempt to migrate illegally are ethnic Tamils.

Following the recent arrest of two groups of migrants the police have uncovered the scam. The arrested illegal migrants have given information about the security forces group that is running smuggling operation.

An Australian media report last month alleged that Sri Lanka Navy personnel are helping asylum seekers to leave the country in boats bound for Australia. The navy denied the allegations.

Tamil National Alliance MP Suresh Premachandran has also told the Australian paper that some navy personnel are involved in smuggling Sri Lankans to Australia.

However, Australian government authorities said that they have no specific evidence to support those claims.

Sri Lanka police meanwhile, say investigations are under way to arrest the security forces group.