Only 2000 army deserters surrendered out of 50,000 - SLA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 June 2010, 16:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has extended the amnesty deadline for army deserters till June 30. The amnesty period commenced on June 7. Till now only about two thousand deserters have surrendered. Currently about fifty thousand army deserters are at large in the country, military spokesman Major General Prasad Samarasinghe said at a media briefing Tuesday.

The problem of the Army deserters continues despite repeated offers of amnesty causing imbalance in the society as some of them resort to violence while some are believed to have become underworld criminals, SLA sources said.

The deserters who report to the regiment headquarters with their military and National Identity cards could retire from service officially, between June 07 and 30.