24 Tamils arrested from Marawila prawn farm

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 2008, 13:01 GMT]
Twenty four Tamil youths including two women who were residents of north, east and upcountry were taken into custody when the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police cordoned off a prawn farm located in Marawila-Lungsima in Chilaapam (Chilaw) district Wednesday night. The victims were subjected to severe interrogation during the search operation, residents said.

Police said they were taken in for questioning and later detained in the police station as they failed to produce their residential certificates. The owner of the prawn farm was also taken into custody later for employing persons without valid residential certificate, the Police said.

It is reported most of workers employed in several factories and prawn farms are Tamil residents of north, east and plantation areas including women.