Ramanathapuram court releases Sri Lankan police officer who illegally entered India

The Hindu - The Ramanathapuram Principal District Court here on Wednesday ordered the release of a Sri Lankan police officer who entered India illegally.

Pradeepkumar Bandara, 35, a police officer of the Colombo Port Police Station in Sri Lanka, was arrested by Mandapam Marine Police on September 5, 2020 for arriving at Dhanushkodi coast near Rameswaram on a Sri Lankan boat without proper documents. He was subsequently held at Puzhal Prison in Chennai.

Police sources said, during the investigation, it was revealed that his brother, Anurakumar, 34, was arrested by Sri Lankan police in connection with the disappearance of 23 kg of drugs from the Colombo Port Police Station. Anurakumar had claimed that Pradeepkumar Bandara had smuggled the drugs and handed them over to him.

As the case was later transferred to the CBCID, they registered a case and interrogated Pradeepkumar Bandara.

He confessed that his brother had framed him in the drug smuggling case and that he came to India illegally to escape arrest, police added.

Following a court order from the Ramanathapuram Principal District Sessions Court, he was placed in Sri Lankan refugees special camp in Tiruchi.

Pradeepkumar Bandara then filed a petition in court, admitting to his illegal entry into India and requested a minimum sentence.

In the recent verdict, the Principal District Sessions Judge A. K. Mehboob Alikhan sentenced Pradeepkumar Bandara to two years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹2,000.

However, the judge ordered his release, noting that he had already spent more than five years under judicial supervision, including three months in Puzhal prison and the remaining period on bail at the special camp in Trichy.

The judge ordered that he be released and be sent to his home country after completing police and immigration procedures.