Over 250 Tamils were arrested in a province-wide police operation conducted in the North on Saturday.
Led by the Deputy Inspector General of Police for the Northern Province, over 2000 police officers across the Jaffna, KKS, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu and Mannar forces conducted search and arrest operations, with over 3500 individual searches and checks being reported.
As well as the 250 arrests for charges ranging from antisocial behaviour, drug trafficking and black-market alcohol trading, traffic police ticketed around 220 motorists.
Local civil society activists expressed concern about the arrests, highlighting that the North-East sees a yearly spike in arrests in November as police and security forces attempt to intimidate communities against organising for Maaveerar Naal remembrance.