Eleven remanded in Madhu killings

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 July 2002, 20:53 GMT]
The Vavuniya Magistrate M.Illancheliyan Wednesday ordered remand for eleven suspects, eight Sinhalese and three Tamils, in connection with the murder of three persons whose bodies were recovered on 25 July by the Tamileelam police in Thatchanamaruthamadhu near the Madhu shrine.

The Sri Lanka Police arrested eleven suspects from Seeduwa, Katunayake and Gampaha in the western province in connection with the murder of the three Sinhalese in Madhu on 24-25 July. The suspects were brought under heavy security and produced in Vavuniya Magistrates' Court Wednesday afternoon.

The Magistrate ordered that the suspects be remanded and fixed the case for August 7. The Magistrate further ordered that an identification parade should be conducted to identify the suspects in the murder incident. Hence the suspects should be kept under tight security in the Anuradhapura remand prison, Magistrate instructed jail officials.

The suspects were taken immediately to Anuradhapura under heavy security with their faces covered, prison sources said.

The three deceased who had gone on pilgrimage to Madhu in a bus with fourteen others were found dead last Wednesday. The victims were from Negombo and Wattala areas.

However twelve persons who were with the pilgrimage group had subsequently returned home. But they did not report to the police about the fate of five who were with them on the pilgrimage. Of the missing five, the bodies of three persons- the driver, cleaner and the conductor of the bus - were recovered. The other two including a key person Shankar are reported missing, police sources said.