Tamileelam Police escorts Jaffna prisoners

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 July 2002, 15:19 GMT]
Prisoners from the Jaffna were taken on the A9 highway to the Anuradhapura jail Saturday for the first time in twenty years, Sri Lankan prison officials said. The Jaffna prisoners were escorted by the Tamileelam Police service from Muhamalai in Jaffna to the Sri Lanka army's Omanthai entry point, according to them.

Six inmates of the Jaffna jail, including two women, were transported in a Sri Lanka prisons dept. vehicle to Anuradhapura. The vehicle was escorted by two sub inspectors of the Thamileelam Police, officials said.

In the past, prisoners in Jaffna were taken to courts in Anuradhapura and Colombo for hearings by sea and sometimes by air.

Prison officials said they decided to take the A9 after an understanding was reached between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers.