Our release a miracle says escaped pow

Nirodhani Wanasinghe Jayagannga group corr.

Our release from LTTE clutches is really a miracle. There are no words to express our joy, G. H. Chaminda Kumara Hewage of the Sri Lanka Navy who was among the five servicemen freed after three years in LTTE custody told the Daily News.

“On November 9, 2006 there was a threat of an LTTE attack on the Green Ocean ship. We became captives when we went to defend the ship.

“On that day we went in a Dvora gun boat. We had to abandon it due to an engine failure. LTTE boats surrounded us, we jumped into the sea and started swimming. But it was a useless effort.

“We were taken prisoners by the LTTE and conducted to the LTTE Peace Secretariat and handed over to Pulidevan. He extracted our personal information and handed us over to the LTTE police chief Nadesan and we were in custody at Kanakapuram LTTE cell. Even the ICRC intervened on behalf of us, Nadesan said we will be freed after an inquiry.

“However, we were separated from other Tamil prisoners. There were some Tamils sentenced to death for offences against the LTTE.

“We were in rooms which were 12x12 feet in size. We got mosquito nets too. In the early days our families were allowed to see us. When the war started we were taken to Janakapuram. We met Samantha there. He said he had problems.

“During the last days of the war we were with the displaced. We were taken from place to place in vehicles. At the last stage our hands were tied with thin strong PVC thread and taken to the No Fire Zone on foot.

We had hopes of freedom when we were in Police custody. Nadesan wrote three letters to Prabhakaran. In the no fire zone we lived in a temporary bunker with a make-shift shelter. We were expecting an attack at any time. We saw refugees dying of gunshot wounds after being shot by the LTTE while fleeing. We knew it was impossible to flee. We were fed with lunu kenda.

“There were five of us. Three from the Navy and two from the Army. We asked our three custodians to let us leave. They said if we take them along with us too they will allow us to go. We left with the last batch.

“The LTTE cadres who followed us were wearing sarongs. They left with the displaced. We saw cyanide capsules lying on the roads. We told a soldier to take us to a senior officer telling who we are. We were happy that we were not victims of the blood thirsty terrorists,” he said.

He was given a rousing welcome by the public when he returned home at Kumbukgolla to his wife and son.