The discovery of a hand grenade in a drain in Kokkuvil, Jaffna on May 4 caused an altercation between army personnel. Tamil youths that had captured photographs of the removal, replacement and retrieval of the grenade were interrogated by officers of the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID), who then erased all evidence from their phones.
After noticing an unexploded grenade in the drainage, locals informed officers at Jaffna police station.
However, the army arrived at the scene before the police and retrieved the reported grenade. Later on, higher ranking military officials arrived at the scene and instructed the army men to return the grenade back to where it was originally found.
A military commander and the soldier who had retrieved the grenade had an exchange of harsh words which led to the higher official attacking the soldier in front of the area locals. The soldier then replaced the grenade and left, shortly after this the police arrived at the scene. After an interrogation, the grenade was once again taken away by the military.
The collective action of the Sri Lankan officials with regards to handling the grenade and the situation has caused suspicion among the locals.
