Batticaloa police arrests bomb suspect

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 March 1999, 20:16 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police in Batticaloa arrested one of its cooks this morning around 10 a.m. when he allegedly attempted to enter the district Police headquarters today with an explosive device hidden in a parcel.

Police sources in Batticaloa said that Kumarasamy Nadesan, 34, from the large Tamil village of Aaraiampathy, 8 kilometers south of Batticaloa, is a member of the Civilian Volunteer Force (CVF) a trained and armed adjunct of the Sri Lankan Police in the eastern province.

He, according to them had come on an autorickshaw to the District Police headquarters around 10 a.m. with a parcel in his hand.

Sentries had noticed that Nadesan was drunk and had checked the package on suspicion.

They had found the parcel bomb which was later diffused by the bomb squad.

Nadesan has told investigators that the Liberation Tigers had forced the bomb on him to plant in the district Police HQ and that he, however, had brought the explosive devise along to show his senior officer.

Police investigators said that if that his story was not credible and that further investigations are on.