5 Tamils arrested near SL Parliament

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 August 2007, 04:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police arrested five Tamil youths near the Sri Lanka Parliament for staying overnight in an open ground located in Madiwela within the Sri Jeyawardanapura Municipal limits, around 4:00 a.m. Tuesday, sources in Colombo said. The youths allegedly had arrived there late evening in an auto trishaw and stayed there until dawn.

Local residents said people gather at the location to spend nights, to enjoy fresh air and peace away from the city environs.

The youths were arrested after suspicious locals called the police and complained about their long presence in the High Security Zone, Mr. Karunaratne, the Officer in Charge of the Thalangama Police, said.

The youths S. Saji, 27, V. R. Johnson, 28, and S. Satheesh, 31, from Colombo and P. Pirabu, 27, and R. Rajanikanth, 28, from Happuththale, in the Hill Country, were remanded by the Colombo District Courts even after they had produced all the relevant documents to prove their identity, P. Rathakirushnan, Deputy Minister, who tried to secure their release, said.

Meanwhile, the businessman from Negombo, A. Naguleswaran, and his aide Visvanathan Vikneswaran from Madulgala, in the Hill Country, are still being detained and subjected to interrogation at the 4th Floor of the Police Head Quarters in Colombo.

Actions have been taken to secure their release, Mr. Rathakirushnan added.