22 Tamils arrested in Colombo, BMICH declared HSZ

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 16:50 GMT]
More than twenty Tamil civilians were arrested in cordon and search operations conducted by the police and armed forces in several parts of Colombo since Friday, in preparation to the Independence Day celebration that falls on February 4. About five thousand police personnel drawn from outstations, have been deployed in the Colombo city to step up security. All vehicles entering the Colombo city are stopped and checked by the police, police sources said.

Police Department said the security of the Colombo city has been tightened following information that some suicide cadres of the LTTE had infiltrated in Colombo for disrupting the Independence Day celebrations.

Meanwhile, the area surrounding the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo has been declared high security zone with effect from Sunday midnight, media reports said quoting defense ministry sources.

Four day national level exhibition to mark the Independence Day celebration is to begin in BMICH on February 4 evening.

The exhibition is to be declared open by the President Mahinda Rajapakse on Independence day.