18 Tamil youths arrested in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 October 2006, 03:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police, went on board the Vavuniya-Matara train at Fort station in Colombo on Tuesday morning and checked each compartment until the train reached Matara where they arrested 10 Tamil youths travelling in the train, sources said. Police, boarding the Colombo bound train from Galle at Panadura, took into custody 8 Tamil youths when the train reached Fort Station on the same day, Deputy Police Commissioner Mr. Poojitha Jayasundara said. The searches on trains were conducted after the Police were tipped that youths suspected of links to terrorism are travelling in the trains, the commissioner added.

These arrests follow the the arrest of 12 Tamils in Colombo suburbs of Dehiwela, Bambalapitya, and Colpetty during a search conducted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and Sri Lanka Police.

The escalating number of Tamil youths arrested in Colombo and in other areas in the South has alarmed Tamil communities living outside Northeast, civil society sources said.