Two Sri Lankans who were arrested in China while attempting to escape to Malaysia by hiding themselves inside a container have been deported.
They arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake early this morning. Via SriLankan Airlines flight UL-867 around 5.00 a.m.
Their return to the island comes a year after their arrest by the Chinese authorities.
According to Ada Derana correspondent, the duo had secretly boarded an empty container loaded onto MV Merks Unicorn docked at Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) of the Colombo Port on January 30, 2023 in a bid to flee to Malaysia.
However, when the ship reached Malaysia, they had been denied entry by the Malaysian authorities.
The duo was later arrested when the vessel eventually arrived in China, after concluding visits to several other countries, with the two Sri Lankans aboard.
A year after their arrest, the two men were deported to the island, where they were taken into the custody of the Human Trafficking Division of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
One suspect was identified as a 26-year-old named Malaal Maadi Rajendran and a 39-year-old named Jayakumar Tharumarasa.
