2 SLA deserters kill fellow soldier

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 March 2007, 12:22 GMT]
Two soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) were taken into custody Friday in connection with the murder of a fellow soldier in Teldeniya in Kandy district. All three soldiers had been attached to the Maveriyadenne SLA camp located close to Victoria Reservoir hydro power plant in Teldeniya, sources said.

The three soldiers had decided to desert the army and left the camp Thursday night, according to sources. The Police on a message received from the officer-in-charge of army camp immediately launched a search operation to nab the decamping soldiers.

Police discovered the body of one of the soldiers in the shrub jungle located close to the camp during the search, and arrested the other two soldiers.

Preliminary inquiry by the police had revealed that that the two suspects had strangled the third soldier due to a dispute while they were decamping, sources said.

Teldeniya Police began investigation into the incident.