Five Sri Lankan Army men surrender for election day massacre

Five Sri Lankan Army men have surrendered before a court for their alleged involvement in the massacre of 10 Muslims on the day of the Parliamentary elections, while the police continued their search for the son of a former deputy defence minister.

An Army lieutenant and Dour soldiers turned themselves in before a magistrate in the hill town of Kandy, as a special police team claimed that it had evidence pointing to the alleged involvement of the son of former deputy defence minister Anuruddha Ratwatt in the mass killing.

The Army personnel were remanded to custody, giving a dramatic turn to the political killings in Kandy district that alleged took place on Dec 5, after polling was over, while the victims were travelling in a van behind a government vehicle carrying ballot boxes at M Dawala near Kandy.

The troop pumped bullets from T-56 assault rifles into the van, apparently as punishment for preventing large-scale rigging by their vigilance.
Bureau Report