Navy aborts six-member family’s perilous voyage

By Norman Palihawadane and Dinasena Rathugagamge

A perilous voyage six persons including five members of the same family had embarked on in the hope of migrating Australia illegally came to an abrupt end when the Sri Lanka Navy intercepted their dinghy in the seas off Mannar, on Saturday.

Two men, one woman and three children were found in a dinghy spotted by the personnel of SLNS Gajaba in the North Central Naval Command. One of the male suspects was the skipper of the dinghy, the sources said, adding that he was a resident of Mannar.

The arrest was made on Friday, during a search operation off Erukkalampiddy, Mannar. The dinghy that was being used to transport the would-be immigrants to another vessel on the high seas too had been taken into custody, the Navy said.The suspects were handed over to the Mannar Police for further investigations and legal actions.