Keelakarai councillor in TN held for trying to smuggle fertiliser to Sri Lanka

The Mandapam marine police in Tamil Nadu, India arrested a panchayat ward councillor and two others on the charge of attempting to smuggle fertilizer to Sri Lanka on Monday.

The police said the fertiliser was stashed in at least 30 jerrycans, each weighing about 20 kg, that were loaded in a country boat at Mandapam. Preliminary inquiries revealed that the three, including the boatman, had planned to sail to an undisclosed point and hand the fertilizer over to a contact in Sri Lanka.

The fertilizer was seized and samples were sent for a scientific examination, the police said. The accused were S. Jainudeen, 45, a former councillor; S. Sarbas Nawaz, 42, of Keelakarai, a councillor of the Keelakarai panchayat; and the boatman, Sadiq Ali, 36, of Vedalai.

The call records of their mobile phones were being analysed, the police said.