20 civilians arrested in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 2008, 14:34 GMT]
Twenty Tamil civilians were arrested in a cordon and search operation conducted by the Special Task Force (STF) of the Sri Lanka Police located in Eechchantheevu area in Vavu'natheevu police division in Batticaloa district on Tuesday from early morning around 5:30 a.m. The arrested are being held in the Vavu'natheevu police station

Every house in the area was searched, and contents were subjected to close check. The national identity cards of the residents were checked.

The search operation was conducted following the killing of a Sinhalese medical officer in Navatkudaa.

Meanwhile, four employees including a woman of the Navatkudaa hospital, arrested by the Vavu'natheevu police in connection with the killing of the medical officer, were later released by the Batticaloa Magistrate on bail, legal sources said.