37 civilians arrested in Anuradhapura

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2008, 19:55 GMT]
Thirty seven civilians, including Tamils and Sinhalese, were taken into custody for questioning in a search operation conducted Sunday from dawn till dusk, civil sources said. Following the killing of Major General (retd) Janaka Perera and 29 others, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are conducting cordon and search operations in hotels and business establishments in Anuradhapura town and suburbs daily.

Majority of those arrested are employees working in business establishments, according to civil sources.

Seventeen of the arrested were later released after preliminary inquiries.

The rest are still being detained in the Anuradhapura police station as they failed to prove their identity and provide satisfactory answer for the stay in the location, police sources said.