Kochi: The interrogation of Ravi Sanoop Raja, who was taken into custody from New Delhi on Monday in connection with the suspected attempt to illegally transport more than 100 people by boat to Australia and New Zealand, has deepened the mystery surrounding the case after his revelations indicated that it could be a case of human trafficking.
During interrogation, he revealed that there were several persons in the boat, which left Munambam harbour on January 12, who were travelling for free.
However, as per his revelations, Sreekanthan, a native of Thiruvallur in Tamil Nadu, who is suspected to have coordinated the deal, would have taken money from the group.
The investigators are yet to trace his whereabouts, but they assume that he might have boarded the same boat. The possibilities of the immigrants heading to Australia were dim as the migration laws, that regulate who has a right to enter and remain in Australia, are stricter compared to other foreign nations.
According to official figures, nearly four lakh Indians have migrated and settled in Australia since 2000, making the country the largest single source of migrants to Australia. However, new visa rules have made it difficult for Indians to find work in Australia. So it is presumed that human trafficking syndicates are unlikely to choose Australia as a destination country.
According to a recent report by the Amnesty International, there are several labour camps in countries like Thailand, North Korea and Indonesia where immigrants are forced to work in slave-like conditions. So the revelations of Ravi Sanoop Raja point to the possibility of the group being taken to any of these countries. Prabhu Dandapani, who was also taken into custody from New Delhi, is currently being subjected to detailed interrogation.
Forced labour, organ trade suspected
The probing team now suspects that the group could have been trafficked for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation. Last year, the New Zealand police had arrested and deported a gang including an Indian on charges of selling girls to prostitution rings operating in that country. Generally, the preferred destination countries of trafficking syndicates operating in the sub-continent are southeast Asian nations excluding Australia.
The intelligent agencies also do not rule out the possibility of the trafficking syndicate involved in human smuggling from Munambam being funded by pro-LTTE outfits in Sri Lanka. Following the killing of LTTE leader Velupillai Prakaharan and family, people belonging to the Tamil ethnic minority have been seeking political asylum abroad as they allegedly face torture under Sri Lanka’s current government. It is suspected that the illegal immigrants who sneaked out into international waters could be Sri Lankan Tamils.
Trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal and human organ trade is also suspected.
The probe team suspects that the deliberate attempts to project the case as that of illegal immigration in a bid to dilute the incident despite its gravity also point to human trafficking angle.
