2 Indians caught smuggling themselves into UK military base

17 Jul 2008, 2111 hrs IST,PTI

LONDON: Two Indians are among five illegal immigrants who allegedly smuggled themselves into a high-security British military base on a convoy of army trucks returning from Kosovo.

Police said the Indians were between 24 and 26 years of age. The others included two Afghans between 16 and 18 years of age, and a 15-year-old Iranian. The immigrants’ names have not been goven out as yet.

Stunned soldiers had to wrestle two of the stowaways to the ground after discovering them as the vehicles returned from Kosovo on Tuesday, said reports.

Another three men leapt from the lorries in a desperate attempt to flee and were captured with the help of police officers and sniffer dogs.

After being rounded up, they were held captive by 35 battle-hardened troops before being removed to an immigration detention centre.

The stowaways are believed to have sneaked on board the convoy as it waited to cross the Channel at the French port of Calais on the way back from the Balkans.

After arriving at Dover, they remained undetected during the 272-km trip across England to the Duke of Gloucester Barracks in South Cerney, Gloucestershire.

Their hiding place was discovered during a security check at the base, which is used to move troops, weapons and vehicles to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Soldiers found two of the illegal immigrants as they removed protective canopies from the low-loader lorries at the barracks.

Army Captain Giles Cutter said: “Fortunately, there was a squadron on duty and a few burly Fijian soldiers wrestled the first two to the ground. We knew there was at least one left so we called a round-up operation.â€