The Sri Lankan government has handed over 94 Tamil Nadu fishermen to the Indian Coast Guard, after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered their release as a goodwill gesture for Indian Independence Day.

The Indian High Commission has increased its defence representation in Sri Lanka reports the New Indian Express, with a member from the Army heading the Defence Wing.

Col Gurinder S Klaire has been appointed as Deputy Defence Advisor to assist Defence Advisor Capt Prakash Gopalan, the first time a member of the Army has held the post, which has traditionally been taken up by a member of the Navy.

At least 260 migrant Tamil workers are being held against their will and forced to work for the Kurdish military, the Tamil Guardian has learnt.

Up to 40 of the men refused to carry out the work, which included unloading of arms and the building of bunkers and fortifications, and demanded to be allowed to leave the country, but were then detained and severely beaten by Kurdish security forces, with several suffering injuries. Only ten of the men were subsequently sent back to the island.

The Tamil men, the vast majority of who hail from the Northeast of the island of Sri Lanka, are all employed as contractors for MXCare, which operates in the airport of Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, but have been forced to work for the Kurdish authorities for the past two months.

The brother of one of the men who was returned said to the Tamil Guardian that he was beaten with the butt of a rifle, requiring him to be admitted to hospital.

“They initially carried out the work as demanded of them, because they were too scared to resist the Kurdish authorities. But when the [Islamic State] militants drew closer to Erbil, our men started resisting,” S Selvakumar told Tamil Guardian from Pallaisuddy, Jaffna.

Batticaloa’s TNA MP P Ariyanenthiran has condemned the shooting of civilians by police earlier this week as an “atrocity”, reported Battinews.

Two Tamil women suffered injuries after being shot by the Sri Lankan police in Kaanchirankuda Panaiyaruppan, Batticaloa on Tuesday night. The police said they were conducting a raid on an illicit alcohol production facility.

A new organisation will be launched by the Buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka, to “protect and safeguard” Buddhism, reported Ceylon Today.

The head of the Malwatte Chapter informed senior ministers of the decision to start this organisation, which will be made up of Buddhist monks.