Published on - 12/13/2007
INVESTIGATIONS HAVE REVEALED that one person arrested during the recent search operation had received training on flying in a foreign flying school and has direct connections with the LTTE, Defence Spokesman and Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.
The Government and the Security Forces do not act against any specific ethnicity but are trying their level best to ensure the safety off all ethnicities, Rambukwella said.
Addressing the weekly press briefing in Parliament yesterday, Minister Rambukwella said it is not a pleasure for the Government and the Security Forces to carry out search operations but under the present situation it is very necessary to do so to ensure the safety of the public.
\'It is true that 2,594 were taken into custody during the recent search operations but within 24 hours 1,954 of them were freed. Then only 383 were retained but at the moment only 97 are in custody.
It is discovered that nine of them have direct contacts with the terrorists and one had undergone flying lessons in a foreign flying school,\' the Minister said.
\'Certain persons and organisations try to interpret this as something implemented against the Tamil community which is not true at all. The same persons and groups are also are trying to create a scary picture on Boossa where the arrested persons are being retained.\'
It is true that Boossa had a very bad reputation a few years back where it was similar to the Batalanda torture camp but today Boossa is just another legal institution belonging to the Government and the Department of Prisons. Minister Rambukwella thanked the Tamil community for bearing up with the security procedures.\'The International community has extended its fullest support towards Sri Lanka\'s effort to eradicate terrorism. This was proved again when the Chennai police arrested Jeyakumar, the Leader of LTTE Sea Tiger Force.
It is also revealed that some relatives of some Tamil MPs representing the Eastern Province had been abducted in order to put pressure on them to stop them from voting in favour of the Government during December 14 Budget vote. A full investigation will be conducted on this issue,\' the Minister said.
\'When there is a problem, the Government cannot do the most popular thing but is forced to do the most necessary thing.
All political leaders who ruled Sri Lanka in the past sincerely tried their best to deal with the terrorism in the most civilised and democratic manner even neglecting the country\'s pride and worshipping all local and foreign forces but Prabhakaran used all those efforts and occasions to strengthen his military capabilities and kill more and more people when he got a chance.
That is why the present Government took a firm decision after 30 years to eradicate terrorism from Sri Lanka completely while seeking a political solution through a dialogue,\' the Minister added.
(Courtesy: Daily News)
