Ten Sri Lankan soldiers accused of the Siruppiddy murder – the abduction and murder of two Tamil youths in 1997 – are to be acquitted on the instruction of the Attorney-General. Out of fourteen soldiers remanded, ten were ordered for acquittal, and nine were released with the other having already died.
After the murder in November 1997, sixteen soldiers attached to the Siruppiddiy army camp, including a Lieutenant, were arrested in connection.
Having laid dormant for almost ten years, the case was reopened in January 2016 and murder charges filed against all sixteen soldiers. Two of these were already deceased.
However on the instruction of the Attorney-General, ten of the remaining fourteen were set for acquittal, and nine set for release, with one having died already.
The remaining four have been remanded until the court reconvenes on 27th March.
Police sources have stated that the Siruppiddy murder case records and evidence went missing from Achuveli police station some years earlier.
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