Army Headquarters yesterday (12) denied accusations regarding a person, Ethirmanasingham Kapilraj, found dead in the Muththaiyankaddu tank.Army spokesman Brigadier Varuna Gamage said that there was absolutely no basis for these accusations against the Army. Responding to The Island queries, Brig. Gamage said that troops, based at a camp, along the Oddusuddan-Muththaiyankaddu road, on the night of 07 August, had thwarted an attempt by a group of persons to enter an Army camp. “Troops apprehended one of them, while the rest fled. We didn’t pursue them,” Brig. Gamage said, adding that on the directions of Army Headquarters the camp fully cooperated with the police.
The spokesman said that three soldiers had been taken into custody and remanded till 19 August, pending further investigations. Contrary to claims, two of them had been arrested on the charge of cooperating with the intruders, while the other for assaulting them. The spokesman emphasised that none of them had been taken in regarding the recovery of Kapilraj’s body.
According to him, the camp is manned by the 12th battalion of the Sinha Regiment and the person, who had been apprehended on the night of 07 August, was later handed over to his parents. Brig Gamage said that various interested parties were seeking to exploit the incident but those living in the area maintained good relations with the 12 SR base.
The spokesman denied claims that troops attacked the group after asking them to come to take away some discarded items. That was nothing but a blatant lie, Brig. Gamage said, adding that the Army wouldn’t hesitate to deal with the wrongdoers. The officer was referring to the soldiers remanded for allegedly cooperating with the intruders. (SF)