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Sri Lanka Army

Defender of the Nation

Security Forces Appeal Gold Jewellery Claimants To Reach Civil Coordination Offices For Processing

(Press Release)

The Security Forces in the North who had already launched the process of returning identified gold jewellery, recovered earlier from the LTTE, to their rightful owners, appeal remaining civilians who have still failed to claim their valuables after the war to reach Civil Coordinating Offices in the Wanni, Kilinochchi, Mullaittivu, Mannar and Jaffna and process their ownership claims, proving their bona fides for verification.

Following Presidential directives, Security Forces as the war for separation, was coming to a climax, took charge of a considerable stock of gold jewellery which is of sentimental and decorative value to the Tamil community after they were recovered from the so called ‘Tamil Eelam Banks’ and ‘Eelam Pawning Centres’ that were in operation in some areas under LTTE diktats during humanitarian operations. All those recoveries of jewelleries were duly documented, properly catalogued and detained for safe-keeping under the custody of the Security Forces on the directions of the President.

In the aftermath of the humanitarian operations, Security Forces, irrespective of painstaking and inevitably complicated modalities involved in the process, have so far managed to identify 2377 legitimate claimants to such jewelleries, although some of which had already been pawned by those owners and money value obtained from the terrorists as evidenced in some receipts, produced to the Security Forces by the victims.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday (12) at Kilinochchi symbolically inaugurated the return of gold jewelleries to 25 owners of the Northern Province, refuting a string of unfounded and venomous allegations that have been hitherto levelled by various elements, including LTTE rump groups and others with vested interests over their destiny and safe-keeping practices, etc.

In order to expedite the process for return of remaining jewelleries under safe-keeping, civilians who still possess any LTTE issued documents or any other piece of evidence, acceptable or supportive documents to that effect, are encouraged to report to the nearest Civil Coordinating Offices of the Security Forces in respective areas to initiate the process for necessary identification and subsequent return of them to rightful owners.

Likewise, the Security Forces in the event legitimate claimants could not be traced, expect to hand over those remaining jewelleries to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in accordance with State regulations and provisions. (Ends)