Mass burial claim to be probed

Chaminda Perera

The Government yesterday sent a high profile investigation team to inquire into the claim that more than 26 military personnel belonging to Sri Lanka Army and the Navy were killed and buried during the height of fighting between the Forces and the LTTE. According to Army spokesman Major General Ubaya Medawala, four LTTE suspects in custody have confessed that 26 Security Forces personnel were killed and buried by them in Pudukudurippu and Wallipuram areas where there was fierce fighting.

The suspects have told the investigators that these soldiers were captured by the LTTE during the height of the war.

Major General Medawala said the Terrorist Investigation Department had obtained a court order to inquire into their claim and they started investigations in the Pudukudurippu area yesterday.

This investigation team comprises an Assistant Solicitor General, a Judicial Medical Officer, officials from the Government’s Analyst’s Department, Survey Department and two professors from the two leading universities.