Search operation in Ampara

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 January 2000, 12:39 GMT]
Ten youths were arrested during a combined search operation by Special Task Force (STF) elite troops and police at Natpittymunai near Kalmunai, north of Ampara this morning.

The youths are being interrogated at the Karathivu STF camp, security sources said.

The STF and police cordoned off the village and conducted a house-to-house search operation, they said.

The troops herded male villagers to a public place and interrogated them, the sources said. About 50 people were detained after initial inquiries, while ten of them were taken in for further interrogation, the sources said.

Villagers say those who have been arrested are "innocent". The STF officer in charge of the Kariathivu camp has said that the youths would be released after interrogation.

Meanwhile, a 10 year old boy was injured in an explosion near Mankerny Sri Lanka Army camp yesterday evening around 5.45 pm, said sources. Mankerny is about 52 km. north of Batticaloa.

The sources said soldiers who were cleaning the surrounding area of the camp had set fire to a pile of refuse. The heat from the fire might have triggered a booby trap to explode, they said. Shrapnel hit the boy who lives close to the camp.

The boy, S. Jeyakumar has been admitted to the Valaichenai hospital.