SL Navy arrests Tamil civilians fleeing to India

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 September 2006, 06:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Sunday morning handed over 56 members of sixteen Tamil families and seven boatmen to Talaimannar Police on a report that they were taken into custody in Mannar Sea when they were attempting to flee to Tamilnadu in India to seek refuge. Forty two of them were taken into custody while fleeing in three boats. The rest were arrested while staying in a church in Thalvupadu.

Talaimannar Police produced these refugees including 31 men and 25 women who had been residents of Trincomalee, Mannar and Vavuniya Sunday morning before Mr.M.P.Farook, Mannar acting Magistrate. The acting Magistrate ordered the civilians to be handed over to civil officials and remanded the seven boatmen for a later date, legal sources said.