Army deserters to be delisted

Dharma SRI ABEYRATNE in Anuradhapura

The Sri Lanka Army has taken measures to delist and delete the names of Army deserters, Army Commander Lt Gen Jagath Jayasuriya said yesterday.

The Army Commander was participating in the first anniversary of Abimansala, the wellness resort for Army disabled personnel at Anuradhapura. He said around 60,000 personnel have deserted the Army from the inception of the Army in 1948. But the names of the deserters have not been properly removed from the Army registers.

“Therefore, moves are underway to remove the names of these deserters from the Army’s registers. Accordingly, a four member committee has been appointed by the Army Commander to look into this issue.

The committee has separated these 60,000 absentees to four groups as the deserters who have engaged in illegal activities, who have obtained loans from the Army, who deserted with Army’s properties,such as, weapons and who are not liable for any such malpractices,” Lt.Gen Jayasuriya said.

“The Army will take disciplinary action against the first three categories before deleting their names. But the deserters of the fourth category will be deleted from the Army registers,” the Army Commander said.

There have been media reports indicating that army deserters were involved in many crimes in the recent past. The allegations against army deserters and an escalating crime rate has prompted the Sri Lanka Army to launch an islandwide search for Army deserters. The Military Police together with the respective regiments, which the deserters belong to, carry out regular arrests of deserters who have committed illegal activities.