They arrived in Sri Lanka on tourist visas in February and March (representative)
Colombo:
Sri Lankan authorities arrested 21 Indian citizens for illegally running online marketing centers in the island nation, media reported on Wednesday, violating the lax tourist visa norms.
The 21 Indian men, aged between 24 and 25, who were in Sri Lanka on tourist visas were detained by the Department of Immigration and Immigration on Tuesday, the Daily Mirror reported.
After preliminary investigation, the department raided a rental house in Negombo City and found that the arrested persons were operating an online marketing center there. The house had been converted into office space, with computers and other equipment installed, the report said.
Under Sri Lankan law, people visiting the island nation on a tourist visa are not allowed to engage in any paid or unpaid work.
Indian nationals took advantage of Sri Lanka’s offer of free visas to a range of countries until March 31 as part of the cash-strapped country’s ongoing pilot project to boost tourism.
They arrived in Sri Lanka on tourist visas in February and March, a senior immigration official told the newspaper.
According to reports, the arrested Indian nationals were shifted to the department’s detention center in Welisala on orders from the relevant authorities.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
