Arrested students released on bail

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 May 1999, 16:12 GMT]
The Kalmunai Police have arrested three Tamil youths on their way to Batticaloa from the upcountry areas, said residents. The police produced them before the Kalmunai District Judge, Mr.Anton Balasingham.

The names of the arrested youths are: Kathiravelu Mohaneswararajah of Coolebrooke town in the Agrapatana area, Kumaravelu Mohankumar of New Colony and Thurairajah Naguleswaran of Salem Bridge, Nawalapitiya.

The Police told the court that the suspects were arrested when they were unable to explain why they came to Batticaloa. The police further said that they had asked the Nuwara Eliya police to send more information about the suspects.

The counsel for the suspects, Mr.Ansar Mowlana, told the court that one of the suspects, Naguleswaran, came to Kalmunai to register himself as a student at the Eastern University.

The third suspect, Mohankumar is a teacher and the first suspect Mohaneswararajah, came to Kalmunai to register himself as a student at the Batticaloa Technical College. The three youths got down from the bus at Kalmunai.

The counsel for the accused told the court that the three were arrested when they went to a toilet near a mosque and asked that they be released on bail.

The District Judge allowed the suspects out on bail and further hearings were postponed.

Meanwhile, two Tamil villagers were arrested by officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ampara Police while they were working in a metal quarry.

The names of the arrested Tamils are: Thangarajah Thadchchanamoorthy(47) and Thamotharam Suhanthakumar (33), both from Thambiluvil in the Ampara district.

The metal quarry belongs to an officer attached to the Ampara police.

The matter has been brought to the attention of the Regional Co-ordinator of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, based in Kalmunai.

Both villagers have been detained at Badulla prison without being produced at the Ampara magistrate's court, said relatives of the suspects.