12 young men arrested in Jaffna, 3 reported "missing"

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 September 2006, 18:12 GMT]
Twelve young men were arrested when Sri Lanka Army soldiers cordoned off St.Patrics College and St. Charles Maha Vidyalam in Jaffna town in the early hours of Friday and thorughly searched civilians who were staying overnight in the schools for security reasons, according to complaints with Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission in Jaffna.

No one was allowed to enter the school premises during the search that went on til afternoon, sources in Jaffna said.

The detained men were handed over to the police, Friday evening, sources said.

The detained persons are: Rasenthiram Vijeyakumar,21, Varatharajah Suthakaran,25, Sigarayar Premsekar,22, Inaasi Sutharsan,21, I.Pathmarajah,21, Thevasakayam Sakayaregiswaran,26, Antonipillai Henrynools, 31, Guneratnam Rock Franklin,23, Valantine Sreetharan,29, Stanislaus Jero,25, Robert Kirubaharan,25, Sebstiampillai Shanthakumar,20.

Civilians from Jaffna's southeastern coastal suburbs of Gurunagar and Pasaiyoor have been sleeping in St.Patrics College and St. Charles Maha Vidyalam during the nights due to the frequent clashes in the Jaffna lagoon.

Meanwhile, three young men from Kattaipirai in Kalviyankadu have been reported "missing", according to complaints made by their parents with the SLHRC in Jaffna.

The youths went to play in a playground close, around 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, and had not returned home, the parents said in the complaint.

The "missing" persons are: Rasenthira Pathmanathan,21, Rasenthira Sureshkumar,18 and Tharmakulasingham Nishanthan,21.