Arms recovered

A joint four hour search operation conducted by the Puttalam Police and the STF on Thursday helped recover a haul of illegal arms and ammunition and illicit meat and other items.

Nine suspects were arrested in this connection. The Police said 19 households came under inspection during this operation conducted by 87 police officers and 62 STF personnel. The suspects were due to be produced before the Puttalam Magistrate yesterday.

The items recovered included one 16 bore gun and 121 live cartridges, one 12 bore repeater gun and five live ammunition, one 12 bore gun and 157 live ammunition, one T-56 rifle, one magazine and 29 cartridges, one live hand bomb of a foreign make, carcass of a rabbit, 10 parcels of different kinds of meat, a deer hide, one sword, six banned knives and a robbed motor cycle and several spare parts.

Officers of the Mankulam police recovered four hand grenades and 1,071 live ammunition of various types during a search operation conducted in Kalkuwara, Mankulam on Thursday.

No arrests were made. Investigations are continuing.