47 Tamil civilians arrested at Dehiwela, Chilaw

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 00:29 GMT]
42 Tamils including 4 women were arrested in Dehiwala, and five Tamils including 2 women wre arrested at Chilaw in two separate cordon and search operations conducted by the police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA), and are being detained in police stations in Colombo and Chilaw, reports from Colombo said.

About two hundred civilians were taken into custody in Dehiwala in a search operation conducted from Tuesday dusk to Wednesday dawn. Except 42 Tamil civilians others were released after preliminary inquiries. Others were detained as they failed to prove their identity and provide satisfactory reason for their stay in the location, police sources said.

5 Tamil civilians were taken into custody in a cordon and search in Chilaw Wednesday morning. The arrested are residents of Mannaar, Killinochchi and Colombo, and have been staying in Chilaw with their relatives and friends. Police have been conducting inquiry to ascertain their identity, media sources said.