Ramanathapuram: Nine Sri Lankan militants attached to the Ealam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), who had escaped from the Puzhal and Tiruchirappalli refugees' camp recently, were arrested on March 18, police said.

They have been arrested under the Foreigners And Passports Act and lodged in Madurai prison.

The nine had come to India in 1990 from Sri Lanka, following their rivalry with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) and had since then been staying here. They had escaped from the respective camps in the second week of this month, and had been staying in a lodge at Ramanathapuram giving fictitious names and addresses.

Police had raided the lodge following a tip-off and arrested them before they could escape to their homeland.

PTI