SLA takes action on Tamilnet report

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 July 2000, 17:16 GMT]
The Military Police of the Sri Lankan Army arrested a corporal attached to the camp at Kalkudah, 34 kilometers north of Batticaloa, following a report by Tamilnet that he (the corporal) was forcing civilians in that village to work on the construction of a bulwark. Tamilnet reported that several civilians in Kalkudah had been beaten up by the SLA for not going to work on the bulwark round the Kalkudah army camp last week.

Military Police personnel who came to the camp this weekend arrested corporal 'Farook' and sought complaints from civilians in the village who had been forced to work on the bulwark by 'Corporal Farook' and who had been beaten up for not complying with the order. The military Police told affected residents of Kalkuadah that they were acting on a report on the 'internet'.

The Military Police also inquired after the mason in the village who had refused to work for the army and who had been severely beaten up by soldiers from the camp as a result.

The mason's chin was split as a result of the beating. The mason had told the soldiers who had forced him to work at the bulwark that he had to be at his construction site in Paasikudah (the adjacent village, formerly a thriving coastal resort) that morning.