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On Monday, an appeal challenging the detention of Sri Lankans in the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru was heard by a division bench presided over by Acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Vishwajith Shetty.
The bench issued notices to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the State Home Ministry, the Inspector of the Mangaluru South Police Station, and the District Commissioner of Bengaluru.
The Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) had sought before the court to arrange for a detention facility with infrastructure to shift the Sri Lankan nationals who are lodged in prison. The authority had also pleaded to extradite the Sri Lankan nationals within the time frame fixed by the court.
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It also pleaded to record the statements of Sri Lankan nationals before the NIA court.
Mangaluru South police had carried out an operation on June 10, 2021 and detained 25 Sri Lankan nationals who were staying in Sea Port Guest House of Mangaluru without documents.
The NIA court which was looking into the case, ordered dropping of charges against Sri Lankan nationals and directed the authorities to shift them to detention centres from the prison.
The investigation had shown that the Sri Lankans did not enter Indian territory illegally but an agency after promising them a job in Canada was trying to transport them through India.
During the recent inspection of the visit of the Member Secretary of the KSLSA, it had come to light that a total of 38 Sri Lankan nationals were lodged illegally in the prison. The KSLSA has explained that this is a violation of the order of the NIA court and human rights.
(With IANS inputs)