A group of 11 Tamils who were detained in Jaffna by Sri Lanka’s counter-terrorism police have been granted bail by a court in Colombo on Wednesday.
The Tamils were arrested by the Terrorism Investigation Division for allegedly with committing offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). They have been granted bail in two sureties, worth one million rupees for each suspect.
Reports indicate that the initial charges of violating the PTA would be dropped and instead the group would be tried for money laundering.
The arrests took place after security forces launched a crackdown in the region, following the killings of two Jaffna University students by police and were condemned by Jaffna based think tank the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR). Police allege that the Tamils are members of criminal group called the “Aava” gang, which they claim has been operating in Jaffna.
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