Over 100 Tamils were rounded-up at mid-night on 22 January in Kochchikade suburb. Sivasamy Koneswary of Trincomalee travelling to Colombo airport to go abroad on 23 January and three others with her were arrested. Defence officers say two Black Tiger suicide squads skilled in explosives and urban warfare are in Colombo since October, protected by sympathisers. A bomb found in a Colombo-Panadura bus on 9 January was diffused.
Security of Colombo’s Katunayake airport was brought under the Airforce and 400 personnel were deployed. Headquarters of armed forces, Colombo port and the President’s “Temple Trees” residence, regarded as the most likely LTTE targets, were declared as high security zones. Ministers’ homes and ministry buildings were provided top security. Opposition UNP Chairman Gamini Athukorale complains that the capital now resembles an ‘Army camp’.
Police say majority of the people arrested are released within a few hours, but some may be detained for further investigation. According to reports, over 1,100 are currently in detention and the Human Rights Commission has received 634 complaints relating to arrest and detention.
President Chandrika appointed a commission in early January headed by High Court judge Raja Nihal Fernando to probe the killing of three Tamils in Kalutara prison in December. Sixty three Tamils from Batticaloa prison were brought to Kalutara on 23 January and officers say all Tamil prisoners will be transferred to Boossa military detention centre in Galle, 60 miles south of Colombo, in early February.
In late January Tamil prisoners threatened to stage a hunger strike against transfer to Boossa and new Emergency regulations imposing severe restrictions on visits to prisons. Visits are now restricted to one a week to a person nominated by the prisoner and the visitor must obtain a letter from the police where he resides stating that there are no objections. The Civil Rights Movement says the regulations offend against the principle of reasonableness and are inconsistent with international standards.
Meanwhile, the Indian government has protested against police search of Indian journalist Nirupama Subramaniam’s Colombo residence on 3 January. Earlier, another Tamil Nadu reporter Sudha Ramachandran was questioned by police about her visit to LTTE-held areas in the north-east.