Search operation in Marawila

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2008, 13:30 GMT]
Several civilians, majority of them Tamils, were taken in for questioning in a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the police Saturday morning in Marawila along Chilaw-Colombo road. The operation was carried out following the discovery of a claymore mine weighing about 5 kg inside a transformer at Mahawewa near Marawila.

Employees of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) who went to the Mahawewa to repair the transformer found a parcel inside it. On receipt of information a group of police and soldiers rushed to the site and recovered the claymore mine, media reports said.

Security forces immediately banned traffic movement along Marawila road from Colombo to Chilaw and conducted an intensive house to house search in the area, sources said.

The ban on the traffic movement was lifted after three hours, sources said.