15 Tamil civilians arrested at Wattegama

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 March 2008, 14:57 GMT]
15 Tamil civilians including five women were arrested at Wattegama in Kandy district during a cordon and search operation conducted Sunday morning. Houses, shops and vehicles were searched during a four hour operation that commenced around 9.30 am., media sources reported.

The arrested persons are being detained at Wattegama police station and are being interrogated by the Terrorist Intelligence Division (TID) as they failed to prove the identity and the purpose of the stay in the location, police sources said.

Meanwhile, in another cordon and search operation conducted at Gampaha police division from Friday dusk till Saturday morning nine civilians including 2 Tamils were taken in for questioning by the police.

The arrested are residents of other districts and had been working in business establishments at Gampaha.

About two thousand persons were taken in for questioning during the operation, media sources reported.