SLA cordons, searches I'nuvil in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 June 2007, 13:52 GMT]
More than two hundred Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, trucked to Maruthanaa Madam and I'nuvil East areas early morning 5:00 a.m Saturday, cordoned off and conducted house-by-house search of the areas, source in Jaffna said.

The soldiers after confiscating the identity cards, directed all local residents, including elderly citizens, to assemble at the Ramanathan College premises.

The residents were paraded in front of masked men and were allowed to go back to their homes around noon.

Details of any arrests are not available.

Meanwhile, SLA soldiers, surrounded the house with address 44/10 Ma'nal Tharai Lane residence in Kanthar Madam in Jaffna at 7:00 a.m. Saturday and conducted a thorough search of the residence till 9:00 a.m. The owners of the house were not in the house during the search.

Several SLA soldiers stood guard in the front of several nearby houses while the search was on.

Tension prevailed in the area for several hours, residents said.