A 17-year-old young man tried to walk from India to Sri Lanka to see his girlfriend.

A seventeen-year-old Indian national boy, who illegally entered the country from Rameswaram, India, to meet his girlfriend after developing a love affair through Facebook, was arrested by the Navy and handed over to the Talaimannar Police. After being produced before the Mannar Magistrate's Court on the 12th, the court ordered the boy to be placed under probation.

On the evening of the 11th, a group of officers from the Mannar Thammanna Naval Base, while engaged in a sea patrol, spotted this boy alone on the sixth sandbar of the group of sandbars known as Adam's Bridge and arrested him. At the time of his discovery, a photograph of his girlfriend, a love letter sent by her, and 280 Indian Rupees were found in his possession and taken into police custody.

It has been revealed during police questioning that this boy, who had dropped out of school and was engaged in fishing, had a few months ago befriended a girl residing in the Mulankavil area of Kilinochchi through Facebook social media. He stated that although he was ready to come to Sri Lanka to meet her at his girlfriend's invitation, he did not have the money required for the boat journey, so he gave the gold chain he was wearing to the boatman and came to this country. However, the person who drove the boat abandoned this boy on the sandbar and fled back to India.

The police have taken steps to inform the Indian High Commission in this country of all information regarding the arrested Indian national boy. Under the supervision of Senior Superintendent of Police Eric Ranjith, in charge of the Mannar Division, and on the instructions of Assistant Superintendent of Police (I) Duminda Rajapaksa, a team including Talaimannar Police Station OIC Police Inspector Nuwan Beddewithana is conducting further investigations into the incident.