Bomb explosion - Union sabotage ?

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police is yet to arrest any one in connection with the bomb which knocked out the telecommunication exchange in Kalutara, 43 kilometers south of Colombo, last night.

But Police sources in Colombo said that a Tamil person who had come with a team from the Sri Lanka Telecom to repair the air conditioning plant at the Kalutara exchange is the prime suspect, although they declined to elaborate on the reasons for determining the man as the prime suspect.

The bomb had been placed near the main transmission link of the exchange. It had exploded at 10.58 p.m. last night, destroying the main transmission link and damaging six switching frames. There was no fire said Sri Lanka Telecom sources.

The Kalutara district telecommunication inspector had left the premises around 10.46 p.m. and had gone to her quarters behind the Sri Lanka Telecom office.

She had thought thunder had hit the communications tower when the bomb had exploded. The Police said that the bomb could not have contained more than ten kilos of explosives.

But other sources in the Police said that they have not completely ruled out the possibility of saboteurs in trade unions being involved in the explosion to bring pressure on the government in support of the protesting postal workers.

They said that there are some extremist elements in the Union of Postal and Telecommunications Organisations (UPTO) who may have placed the bomb as a warning to the government.

Meanwhile, trade union sources in Colombo said that more than thirty trade unions will stage demonstration on April 30 in support of the UPTO.

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