Seven bodies found in Moneragala jungle

The ministry blamed the LTTE for the killings.

The source said the police, during their investigations, had found four bodies lying on a tractor trailer with wounds caused by bullets fired from a T-56 riffle and another three bodies on the tractor itself with pistol wounds.

A?a??A?Three of those civilians had been shot with pistols near the tractor they were using for cultivation work. The other four civilians had been shot with T-56 rifles from 500metres away,A?a??A? it said.

A?a??A?Police suspect that a group of LTTE terrorists infiltrated into the jungle and carried out the massacre during the morning hours,A?a??A? the source said.

These bodies were noticed when a group of villagers went to the jungle last morning. They had immediately informed the police. Later a special police team with Special Task Force personnel went to the scene, police said.

Police and troops are making arrangements with regard to judicial inquiries and other formalities.

Following the recovery of the bodies, a massive search operation was launched in the area.

Meanwhile, the three persons who were abducted last week by an unidentified armed gang, while collecting honey in the jungle off Alavai in Pottuvil, had not returned yet, police said.

The security forces had launched a search operation in the area to trace the three men, after a complaint was lodged with the Pottuvil police on Tuesday, by a person who was with the victims and avoided abduction.

source:

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