Sri Lankan Police arrest 2 Saiva priests, 8 civilians in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 October 2008, 19:02 GMT]
Maanippaay police, during a search conducted Tuesday in Kalvayal Murukan temple and Cheera'ni Amman temple in Valikaamam West, arrested the resident priests of the two Saiva temples, and eight civilians including the two trustees of the temples and persons who came to worship, sources in Maanipay said.

The police produced the arrestees Wednesday at the residence of Mallaakam magistrate seeking permission to detain and interrogate them claiming that weapons were recovered from temple premises during the search, the sources added.

The arrestees are held in detention and interrogated in Maanipaay police station.

No details of the weapons claimed to have been recovered were submitted to Mallaakam magistrate court.

Sri Lanka Army and police conducted search operations Tuesday and Wednesday in the Saiva temples in many areas in Jaffna peninsula following the attack on a SLA patrol unit Monday at Maasiayappiddi in Valikaamam South West, allegedly by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).