Sri Lanka's former navy lieutenant commander, Prasad Chandana Hettiarachchi, alias 'Navy Sampath' has been remanded in custody until August 29, the Daily Mirror reports.

Lieutenant Commander Hettiarachchi was arrested this week over the abduction and murdering of 11 Tamil youths from 2008 to 2009. 

He had been evading authorities ever since he was released on bail earlier this year. He was reportedly arrested at Lotus Road in Colombo with a false identity card.

A former Naval Media Spokesperson and five others including three naval officers have been arrested over the murders so far.

India's Consul General in Jaffna opened eight new school buildings across the Northern Province last week.

Sri Lanka’s deputy minister of national integration, reconciliation and official languages has claimed that Tamils who fled the island should return as peace now prevailed.

Speaking at an alumni meet in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, Deputy Minister Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana said that the Sri Lankan government was taking steps to facilitate those who want to return to Sri Lanka, especially Tamils who want to return to the North-East, but claimed some Tamils were hesitant as they were ‘settled down with families’ in other countries.

A court-imposed ban on journalists entering a mass grave site in Mannar has been lifted after journalists challenged the injunction last week.

Lawyer P. Deniswaran said that the judge accepted that the court order had contained errors and confirmed that journalists could visit the site to collect news without being disturbed.

Registered journalists could obtain permission from the police officer on duty at the mass grave excavation site, the judge said.

The United States Naval Special Warfare unit announced that it had completed a four week long exercise with Sri Lankan troops in Trincomalee this week, as military ties between the two governments continue to increase.

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe pledged to continue with the preservation of Buddhist sites across the island, as he slammed the former regime for claiming to be ‘Sinhala Buddhist’ without spending as much on archaeology as the present government has.

ColomboPage reports Mr Wickremesinghe as stating “it is no use of claiming 'Sinhala Buddhist' to obtain the votes without preserving the ancient historic Buddhist temples to tell the world about their glory”.

Sri Lanka's CID has summoned the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa over the abduction and assault of the associate editor of The Nation, Keith Noyahr in May 2008. 

Mr Rajapaksa has been summoned to the CID office on August 17 to record a statement. 

The summons was delivered to his official residence on Sunday by the Organized Crimes Investigation Unit. 

Mr Noyahr was beaten after writing an article criticising the then army commander, General Sarath Fonseka and his colleagues.

Two Tamil men have been arrested on suspicion of carrying out a sword attack three months ago, Koppay police said.

A 24-year-old and a 28-year old were arrested on Tuesday in connection with a sword attack in Neerveli in May.

Initially three Tamil youths had been arrested by Koppay police in connection with the attack but witnesses did not identify any of them during the identity parade. A further two arrests were made. All five were kept in remand for a month and then released on bail.

The Jaffna Magistrate judge ordered the two new suspects to be remanded until the 23rd August.

Anger has been mounting in Mullaitivu after arson attacks in Nayaru devastated hundreds of thousands of rupees worth of fishing equipment of Tamil fishermen from the area.

The Sri Lankan president has promised to personally intervene in the issue of Sinhalese fishermen fishing illegally in Mullaitivu, which has caused tension in the areas, Minister Mano Ganesan has said.

“At Cabinet, I raised the issue of violence at Semmalai, Mullaitivu between Fishermen factions of North & South. President promised to hold special discussion to permanently settle the conflict when he visits North on 22nd,” Mano Ganesan said on Twitter.

Tensions in Mullaitivu came to a head this week when the huts and boats of Tamil fishermen were set alight, after Tamil fishermen had engaged in a week-long protest against illegal fishing by Sinhalese fishermen.