Search operation in Tamil suburb

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 August 2001, 13:28 GMT]
All private boarding houses and lodges in the Wellawatte police area were searched by special police teams Wednesday night. All inmates were closely questioned and documents in their possession were thoroughly examined. The search operation, which commenced around 9 p.m. ended by midnight, Wellawatte police sources said. Wellawatte is a Tamil dominated suburb in the southern sector of Colombo city.

Most of the inmates in the boarding houses and lodges were Tamils, from the north and east of the island.

No one was arrested in the search operation, which, according to the Police, was carried out on information that some suspected Tamil Tigers were hiding in boarding houses.

Since the attack on the Katunayake military airbase and international airport last month the police and army have stepped up search operations in the Colombo City and its suburbs, mostly in areas where Tamils live. More than a hundred Tamils were arrested since the attack on Katunayaka.