SL offers to repatriate 10 Indian prisoners

Sri Lanka has offered to repatriate 10 Indian prisoners, currently serving their sentence in the island nation's jails, to India to complete their remaining prison term.

This was conveyed by Colombo to New Delhi through diplomatic channels saying it wanted to send the prisoners back as part of a pact signed by Sri Lanka and India on exchange of prisoners in 2010, official sources said.

Most of the Indian prisoners in Sri Lanka are from Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The Home Ministry is now in touch with the state governments and discussing with them where to lodge the prisoners to spend their remaining period of sentence once they are repatriated from Sri Lanka, sources said.

Majority of Indians were convicted in Sri Lanka for drugs-related offences, crossing over of international maritime boundary and other crimes. (PTI)