Thursday, August 23, 2007

LTTE wants Rs. 1 million ransom from lodge owner

The LTTE has demanded a Rs. One million ransom from the owner of Ideal Guest in Wellawatte as compensation for the loss of two claymore mines detected at the lodge on a tip-off by the owner, Senior DIG Jayantha Wickremeratna said.

Addressing the weekly press briefing in Colombo, DIG Wickremeratna said yesterday that Ratnasinghe Selvaraja, the owner of Ideal Guest made this complaint to Police on Tuesday evening.

"The LTTE has threatened to abduct his son or his father if he fails to pay a Rs. One million ransom," the DIG added.

Police on a tip-off by Selvaraja, recovered two claymore mines weighing five kg and nine kg and three hand grenades from Ideal Guest, opposite Savoy Cinema last week.

DIG Wickremeratne said though certain media tried to show that the detection of the two claymore mines and hand grenade from the guest house last week was a ruse by Police to put pressure on Tamil civilians who had filed fundamental rights cases against Police for forcible eviction of lodges to withdraw such cases, the latest development proved otherwise.

"This is a totally false allegation against the Police as the guest house owner himself informed police about the suspicious people," the DIG added.

The owner of the guest house informed Police about the suspicious parcel after he was informed about it by the guest house manager. "There are three clear witnesses to provide information about the suspicious parcel," the DIG said.

He said Police has not made any arrest regarding the incident and the suspect who had brought the claymore mine will soon be arrested as they have already identified the person.

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