72 civilians arrested in Chilaw

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 March 2007, 22:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka armed forces Wednesday morning took into custody 72 civilians, most of them Tamils, in a cordon and search operation conducted in Uddapu, a Tamil village in Chilaw district, northwestern province.

Police sources said most of them were taken into custody when they failed to produce their National Identity Card (NIC) supplied by the Department of Registration of Persons and some failed to justify their presence in the location.

Police took them to Munthal police station and subjected them to severe interrogation. Later the police released 67 of them and five have been further detained.

The five detainess will be produced in courts, police sources said.