20 Tamil youths arrested in Sri Lanka's Central towns

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 July 2008, 09:11 GMT]
Twenty seven civilians including twenty Tamils were arrested in two separate cordon and search operation conducted from Wednesday evening till Thursday evening in Dambulla and Teldeniya areas, sources said. The arrested are still being detained in respective police stations, and are to be produced in courts after the investigation is completed, police sources said.

On receipt of information from local residents the police surrounded Thihana-Ambakottai area in Teldeniya police division, in Central Province, Wednesday night and took five Tamil youths on suspicion.

In the second operation the police assisted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) took 22 youths including 15 Tamil youths employed in shops and various institutions in Dambulla town, North Central Province, on Thursday.

All of the arrested, including Sinhalese youths, failed to produce valid documents to prove their identity and reasons for their stay in the locations at that time arrest, police sources added.