The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday closed a batch of connected petitions involving the case of Sri Lankan duo Sanga Sirantha and Mohammed Saffras – both have criminal antecedents in Sri Lanka – who had entered and exited India clandestinely.
A Division Bench of Justices K. Kalyanasundaram and T. Krishnavalli was informed by Additional Advocate General K. Chellapandian that the accused who helped the duo escape had been booked and would be produced before the Judicial Magistrate concerned.
The court had taken a serious view of the manner in which the two Sri Lankan nationals had entered and exited India. They had escaped to India to evade arrest back home. They were then arrested by Ramanathapuram police for entering India without valid documents.
They were remanded in judicial custody in Puzhal Central Prison, Chennai. The two had filed bail petitions before the High Court Bench, but they were dismissed. However, to facilitate their deportation to Sri Lanka the case against them before the trial court was withdrawn.
But, the order of the Judicial Magistrate was misconstrued and the two were released from the prison. After their release, they escaped to Sri Lanka with the help of some locals in Ramanathapuram.
Earlier, the court was informed by the Centre and the State that the duo had surrendered before a local court in Colombo and it was confirmed to them by Sri Lankan authorities.
During the course of the hearing, the State informed the court that disciplinary action had been taken against the erring police officials. Taking cognisance of the submission, the court closed the petitions.
