SLA soldier dies at Thenmaradchi training ground

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 2003, 20:59 GMT]
A soldier of the Sri Lanka Army, Mr.Dingiri Bandage Pushpakumara,27, of Mahavilachchiya in the Anuradhapura district, Monday collapsed on the ground and died when he was participating in routine exercises at the 52-1 Brigade base in Nunavil in Chavakachcheri, the main town of Thenmaradchi in the Jaffna district, police said.

Chavakachcheri Police Officer Mr. Eric Rohitha informed the Magistrate regarding the death of the soldier and sought permission of the court to send the body of the soldier to his hometown in Anuradhapura, legal sources said.

The acting Magistrate, Mr. S.Balakirushnan, visited the scene and held the inquest into the death of the soldier, sources said.

The acting Magistrate directed the Police to send the body to the Colombo Judicial Medical Officer for postmortem examination and to submit the medical report to court. The Court further ordered the Police to hand over the body of the soldier to his relatives thereafter, legal sources said.

The body of the soldier was later taken to Colombo by a Sri Lanka Air Force craft, police said.