The “Q” branch police in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday arrested six Sri Lankan Tamil refugees on the charge of planning to embark on an illegal boat journey to New Zealand, The Hindu reported.

They were secured when they assembled near a school in the Tiruchirapalli to chalk out a plan for the boat journey. They were identified as K. Jayaraj (34) and A. Chandrakumar (36) of Sri Lankan camp at Rayanur in Karur district, C. Pradeepan (27), R. Prabu (25) and M. Pradeep (21) of Sri Lankan camp in Kottapattu and S. Sreshwararaja (34) of Irubuthipatti in Karur district, sources said.

Jayaraj was said to be the kingpin of the plan. He had collected Indian Rs 100,000 each for arranging the boat ride, The Hindu also said.

(With inputs from Hindu)