Jaffna GSs released after interrogation in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 January 2008, 00:02 GMT]
Eleven Grama Sevaka (GS) Village Officers, from GS divisions in Vadamaraadchi, Thenmaraadchi, Valikaamam and the islets in Jaffna peninsula, flown to Colombo on New Year Day to Police Crime Branch (PCB) Interrogation centre ‘Fourth Floor’ by PCB officials, returned to Jaffna Sunday morning after being interrogated by Crime Branch officials in Colombo, sources in Jaffna said.

‘Fourth Floor’ PCB officials interrogated the eleven GSs on matters related to persons arrested by Sri Lanka Armed Forces in Colombo and other areas in Sri Lanka, and recorded detailed statements of each GS.

GSs in Jaffna peninsula are the first local authorities to attest and approve applications for travel permits of persons wishing to leave Jaffna peninsula. These applications are then taken in for scrutiny by the local Sri Lanka Army (SLA) administration office before the final SLA approval.

Besides this function, the GS is the important government official in each GS division serving as the vital link between the Government Secretariat, Regional Secretariats and the public, handling almost all civilian affairs including the distribution of essential food items, and civil transport.

The eleven GSs, having gone through the ordeal of PCB interrogation in the ‘Fourth Floor’, expressed concern related to future attestation and recommendation that have to be made by them to applications of residents in their respective divisions, sources in Jaffna Secretariat said.

Many GSs, in various divisions in Jaffna peninsula had been killed, allegedly by SLA troops and SLA-backed paramilitaries in the recent past and this may be the cause for apprehension among the Colombo returned GSs, the sources added.