8 Batticaloa youths arrested in Colombo Fort

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 04:59 GMT]
Eight Batticaloa Tamil youths from displaced families residing in Batticaloa and who had arrived in Colombo to obtain Passports to travel to a Middle East country for employment, were arrested at Fort Railway station Wednesday early morning, relatives said in a complaint.

Kanthasamy Jeevaruban, 28, Nesarajah Dilukshan, 22, Gunanayakam Pathmanathan, 23, Kanthasamy Nisanthan, 21, Ilayathamby Rathan 22, Packiyarajah Sabesan, 21, Yogethiran Krishnarajah, and Packyarajah Hariharan were arrested early morning soon after their arrival at the Fort Railway station.

The whereabouts of two other youths, Veerakuddy Murugathas, 21, and S. Muthalvan, 20, accompanying the arrested youths are not known, the parents of the youths said.

The youths belong to the 300 internally displaced families residing in refugee camps located in Muhathuwaaram, Paalameenmadu and Zahira in Batticaloa district, sources said. The families were displaced due to incidences of violences in civilian settlements in Thoapoor, Moothoor, more than a year earlier.

The families in the camps are affected by acute unemployment and face threats of abduction by armed groups operating in the region, sources added.

Some of the youths from these families had sent these youths in the company of an Employment Agent who had arranged for the youths to travel to Dubai, the parents stated in their plea to parliamentarian Mr.Rathakrishnan, and appealed to him to take steps to release them.

The youths were arrested in view of the strict security measures being implemented in the capital for the forthcoming Independence Day celebrations, Fort police said.

In a press communiqué released by UPF it stated that clarification regarding the background of the arrested youths has been brought to attention of high level police officials and steps have been taken to secure the release of the youths.