With the arrest of Lingam A, a key conspirator in the case in Tamil Nadu, a total of 14 people have so far landed in the NIA net in the Sri Lankan illegal drugs and arms trade case, registered in July 2022.

A resident of Chennai, Lingam was a close associate of another accused, Gunasekharan, and acted as a benami for the latter’s illegal transactions relating to laundering the “proceeds of drugs and arms trade” in India and Sri Lanka.

The accused, Lingam, had also forged identity documents for members of the racket in an attempt to legitimise their illegal stay in India, according to NIA investigations.