News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 February 2000, 16:25 GMT]
Arrested students released, Sailor dies in accident, Two missing; two arrested, Cargo ship to ferry until further notice.

Arrested students released

Three Jaffna University students who arrested by the Sri Lanka Army during this morning were released around 1 p.m. sources said.

The students, Joy Joseph Rajkumar, Pasupathy Dayananthan and Vatharniyam Bavananthan, were arrested when the troops searched Thirunelvely and Kalviyankadu areas today, following a grenade attack at Thirunelvely around 8 p.m. last night.

Meanwhile explosions and gunfire were heard in Thirunelvely area around 8 p.m. said sources in Jaffna. Further details were not known they said.

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Sailor dies in accident

A Sri Lanka Navy sailor died when a tractor he was travelling in ran off the road at Setrukadal in Allaipiddi, an island south east of Jaffna town, this morning.

Three naval personnel were injured in the accident. The injured were admitted to the Palaly militray hospital.

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Two missing; two arrested

A thirty-two year old woman, Vijeyamalar Thavarasa and her son Thushanthan Thavarasa, of Chiththankerny in Jaffna have been reported 'missing' since 30 January, their relatives complained to the Jaffna branch of the Human Rights Commission (HRC).

Meanwhile two students were arrested yesterday by Sri Lanka Army soldiers following the claymore attack on a police tractor in Nallur yesterday, according to HRC in Jaffna. Three police personnel were killed and 7 others were injured in the attack.

The youths were identified as Pakiyanathan Jeyakumar, 18 of Nallur and Ambihaipahan, 17, of Thaavadi.

Both sat for the GCE (O/L) examinations held in December last year sources said.

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Cargo ship to ferry until further notice

Cargo ship Lanka Muditha will continue to ferry passengers between Trincomalee and Kankesanthurai until a decision is taken to allow private sector to run a passenger shipping service, according to the Additional Commissioner General of Essential Services, Mr. L. U. W de Soysa.

At a conference held in Colombo's Defense Ministry Office on Wednesday, the question of allowing private sector to run a passenger shipping service came up for discussion.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is still talking to the parties concerned in this issue. Until a decision is taken, Lanka Muditha, cargo vessel would continue to ferry passengers to and from Jaffna and Trincomalee, according to CGES sources.

In the meantime, Lanka Muditha is now anchored in Kankesanthurai harbor, unloading cargo. Trincomalee Divisional Secretariat sources expect that after February 20 Lanka Muditha would arrive in Trincomalee to ferry Jaffna bound passengers and displaced persons from Vanni.