News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 July 1999, 18:56 GMT]
Thirty held in Colombo; Search operation in Batticaloa and Sick soldier dies.

Thirty held in Colombo

At least 30 Tamil youths were arrested by the Sri Lankan Police during a search operation at the Fort Railway Station in Colombo this evening said sources.

The police also questioned a large number of Tamils who were waiting for the train.

The detained persons are currently being interrogated at Fort Police station.

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Search operation in Batticaloa

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers accompanied by members of a Tamil paramilitary group conducted a cordon and search operation in Batticaloa town, near the police station this afternoon, said sources there.

The people in that area were taken to the Batticaloa market and were told to file past a hooded spotter inside an SLA truck.

Around 15 people, mainly youths, were subsequently detained, said the sources.

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Sick soldier dies

K.B.R.Tissanayake,24, of the 10th Gajaba Regiment of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), who was serving in the Forward Defence Line (FDL) near Vidaththalthivu became seriously ill yesterday and died on the way to the Mannar Hospital, said sources.

The DMO's report said today that the cause of death has not yet been determined.