19 Tamils arrested in Gampaha

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 December 2008, 10:13 GMT]
Nineteen Tamil civilians were taken into custody in cordon and search operations conducted from Friday morning for several hours in parts of Gampaha town in the Western province by the Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka Police with the assistance home guards units. Police said the arrested are being detained in police stations to ascertain their identity as they failed to provide the national identity cards and other legal documents.

Majority of the arrested persons are workers in business establishments, or own shops and other institutions in the area, sources said.

Nearly ten thousand persons were interrogated and hundreds of houses were searched to locate any strangers living in the area.

Hundreds of vehicles were also searched in the operations.

The suspects would be produced in court once the inquiry against them is completed, Police said.