Two Sri Lankans arrested at Madurai airport for illegal voting in Tamil Nadu assembly elections

Representative image | Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Two persons, including an elderly woman, have been arrested at the Madurai airport in connection with a case of illegal voting in the 2026 legislative assembly elections.

Elections to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly were held on 23 April.

Subsequently, the election results were published on May 4. In the results, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam won the largest number of seats and C. Joseph Vijay assumed the office of Chief Minister.

As foul play was suspected after several complaints, the Election Commission asked airport immigration officials to track and properly investigate non-resident Indians who came to Tamil Nadu to vote when they returned abroad.

Based on this, officials conducted inspections at airports including Chennai, Tiruchi, Coimbatore and Madurai, which revealed that 17 foreign nationals from countries like Sri Lanka, Canada and Australia had voted illegally in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections.

They were arrested and interrogated. Accordingly, a couple hailing from Thiruvadanai area was earlier arrested at Madurai airport.

In these circumstances, Krishnasamy, 75, from Namakkal district arrived at Madurai airport to travel to Sri Lanka.

When immigration officials verified his documents, it was revealed that he had Sri Lankan citizenship and was doing business there. Investigation revealed that he voted illegally in the recently concluded legislative elections.

Similarly, Mary Jeno Fernando (64) is the wife of Ramesh Fernando of Thoothukudi district.

Although her husband and children reside in Thoothukudi district, Mary Jeno Fernando held Sri Lankan citizenship and lived there because her brother resided in Sri Lanka.

Investigation revealed that she too had voted in the legislative assembly elections.

After that, the airport officials handed them both over to the Avaniyapuram police. The police have detained them and are investigating.

Published – 16 May 2026 20:57 IST