Thousand detained in Vavuniya round up

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
More than one thousand Tamil civilians were detained in a massive search operation by the Sri Lankan Army and the Police in Vavuniya and its suburbs today.

A large number of refugees staying in various camps in the town were also detained in the search operation. All those who were rounded up were taken to Vavuniya Maha Maha Vidyalayam for interrogation. Many were filmed by the military intelligence. The Civilians were released latter in the evening.

Meanwhile, a policeman believed to be an intelligence officer was shot dead near Nelukkulam on the outskirts of Vavuniya town today. The Police blamed the Liberation Tigers. The SLA and the Police maintain that the LTTE operates a 'pistol group' within the high security zone of Vavuniya.

This is the second killing attributed to the LTTE within the last 3 days in Vavuniya.