Arms cache found

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Weapons and ammunition were discovered buried behind the Mandresa Roman Catholic Church retreat in the outskirts of Batticaloa town by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Batticaloa police on Friday evening, said police sources in Batticaloa.

A full scale inquiry has been put into motion following this discovery to find out whether the weapons had been brought by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to attack a military camp or a Sri Lanka Government installation.

Mandresa is accessible from the LTTE controlled areas which lie across the lagoon.

However there was also speculation how information that this arms cache was lying buried had reached the police.

It is believed that the arms cache, which included T-56 rifles, could have been deliberately planted by the police so that its 'discovery' could be used as a pretext to crack down on the area.