Up to 25 arrested for 'terrorism' in Jaffna

by admin
Dec 5, 2012

As many as 25 people have been arrested for "terrorism" in the Jaffna peninsula and transferred to Vavuniya, reported the BBC.

Police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody told the BBC that 10 people were detained on Wednesday, but more are thought to have been arrested since. Jayakody said,

"They were arrested at different places on the Jaffna peninsula and are now in Vavuniya... All the families have been informed."


However, the BBC's Charles Haviland reported that at least one family was kept completely in the dark about their son's disappearance, only finding out he was arrested after complaining to the official human rights body.

The police officer further said that "intelligence reports" had guided the arrests, according to the BBC. 

Earlier this week, a source from Jaffna spoke to the Tamil Guardian about paramilitary groups working with the Sri Lankan government to arrest students, saying,

”The fact that they moved to a compound behind the unversity campus kit last week is no coincidence.

They were and continue to be involved in the government’s counter-insurgency project”.

See our earlier post: Jaffna University students arrested by Sri Lankan TID (01 December 2012)

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