Three Lankan refugees escape from camp

Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, Oct 29 (UNI) Three inmates of the Chengalpattu Sri Lankan refugee camp, including two Lankan Tamils, escaped early today.

Police said the trio, including a local Tamil, escaped from the camp by scaling the trunk of a tree and jumping out of the 15-foot-high compound wall in the camp.

The tree, adjoining the compound wall, had fallen down yesterday following heavy rains.

They were identified as Pattu alias Yesu Gunaraja (42), Thavaraja alias Suresh Siddhartha (28), the two Sri Lankan Tamils, and Vijayapandi (35) of Vilathikulam in Tuticorin.

District Superintendent of Police I Periaiah, who visited the camp along with Q branch Inspector Govindaraj, said three special police teams have been formed to nab the trio.

Gunaraja and Siddhartha were initially lodged in the Devakottai and Mandapan refugee camp respectively, before being shifted to Chengalpattu as he was facing several criminal cases. Vijayapandi had made a clandestine visit to Sri Lanka during 1993-94 and married a woman there. He was initially lodged in the Villupuram camp and shifted to Chengalpattu after he murdered a refugee there, police said.

UNI