Sri Lanka’s prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is set to visit India next month, after foreign minister Dinesh Gunawardena visited Delhi and held talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on the relationship between the two governments.

The two officials reportedly held wide ranging talks, touching on “a range of substantive bilateral issues and regional concerns,” tweeted Jaishankar.

A Sri Lankan navy pick-up truck collided with another vehicle on the A9 highway near Panikankulam on Sunday night leaving a victim in a serious condition at Maankulam Hospital. 

A three-wheeler heading in the direction of Maankulam on the A9 was hit by the navy pick-up truck heading towards Kilinochchi, just as the driver turned into a street in Panikankulam. The auto-rickshaw was flung into a tree and is also severely damaged as a result.

Sri Lankan counter terrorism officers arrested two Tamil men yesterday in Udaiyarkaddu, Mullaitivu, accusing them of having links to a former LTTE cadre who they claimed to have found in the possession of explosives.

The officers from Puthukkudiyiruppu Police Station in Mullaitivu were reportedly instructed to arrest the two men by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID).

Sri Lankan police are reportedly carrying out further investigations.

The latest arrest comes as several Tamils, including former LTTE cadres, have been arrested across the North-East in recent months.

The All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) has warned that any constitutional amendments demanded by Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government to weaken parties that represent the various ethnic groups of the island will have “dangerous outcomes” for ethnic harmony on the island.

Rishad Bathiudeen, ACMC party leader and MP for the Vanni District told Sri Lanka’s parliament that the “President’s intention, to amend the constitution appears to be aimed at reducing the power of minority political parties among others”.

A joint search operation; involving army, special task force (STF) and police officers, was carried out in Kurunagar, Jaffna between 5:30 am and 6:00 am today, as military surveilance in the North continues. 

The police ordered an unexpected round-up of the local residents, in which no suspects were arrested and no suspicious items were recovered. Police officials insisted that these operations were carried out for the sake of national security.

Sri Lankan police officers have arrested a Tamil youth in Batticaloa over the alleged possession of a T-56 rifle last week.

The youth, identified as 24-year-old Kumarapodi Thanujan, was arrested after Sri Lanka's Special Task Force conducted a raid on Saturday at 10 pm in the Valaichchenai area.

They claim that the 24-year-old had the intention of selling the gun in Santhiveli area, and that they had received a tip-off from unknown sources. They further claimed that at the time of arrest he had the rifle and 27 bullets on his person.

A police investigation is reportedly currently underway.

 

 

 

The Sri Lankan government is “unleashing a chilling process of repression targeting critics and human rights defenders,” said a report by the International Truth and Justice Project – Sri Lanka (ITJP) and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), which documented at least 69 recent incidents of intimidation and threats

The former Chief Minister of the North held talks with top South Indian actor Rajinikanth on Saturday.

C V Wigneswaran paid the Kollywood icon a visit at his home in Chennai to discuss issues facing Tamils in Eelam and in Tamil Nadu.

He reportedly extended an invite to Rajinikanth and requested that he meet Eelam Tamils in the homeland.

The Sri Lankan government is reportedly set to release a soldier who was sentenced to death over the massacre of eight Tamil civilians, according to an opposition parliamentarian who applauded the move.

“Now we have got information that the government has taken measures to release 34 members of the intelligence and Sunil Ratnayake, as mentioned during the Gotabaya Rajapaksa election campaign,” said UNP MP Ajith Perera.

<p>The Sri Lankan president has appointed a commission to look into the alleged ‘political victimisation’ of public officials during the previous government’s administration.</p> <p>The commission has been empowered by the president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to look into the ‘alleged political revenge’ on members of the armed forces and the police, as well as government officials and employees of state corporations.</p> <p>It will investigate the alleged victimisation carried out by the Bribery or Corruption Commission, Police Financial Crime Investigation Division (FCID) and Police Special Investigation Unit.</p>