Police cordon, search Eastern villages

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 January 2007, 04:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police and members of Special Task Force (STF) jointly cordoned off and conducted a door-to-door search operation in Kirankulam village located in Kaththankudy Police division along the Batticaloa- Kalmunai road around 6:00 a.m. Monday, sources in Batticaloa said. The Police detained nearly 50 persons but released them after intensive interrogation.

The people who traveled along the main trunk road too were subjected to severe scrutiny.

The five-hour long operation created tension in the area. Most of the local residents were prevented from travelling to their place of work, civil sources said.

Meanwhile, in another cordon and search operation in Kaluthavalai village in Kaluwanchikkudy Police division, 5 km south of Kirankulam, Sunday, an unknown number of local residents were arrested and taken into custody by Police. No details are availble on those arrested.

Kirankulam is located 15 km south of Batticaloa.