Sri Lankan authorities carried out an excavation in the Eastern district of Amparai on Wednesday in search of weapons and gold allegedly buried by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but no items were recovered.
The search took place on a privately owned paddy field in the Thoyyum Vattai Keel Kandam area, within the Sammanthurai police division.
According to officials, the excavation was launched after information was reportedly received by the Amparai Special Police Intelligence Unit, alleging that LTTE members had buried weapons and gold on the land during the armed conflict.
The operation was carried out under a court order, with Sri Lankan police and other state officials present at the site.
Excavation work was conducted using an excavator. However, no weapons, gold or other material of interest were discovered.
The operation was subsequently halted.
Local reports suggested the area had previously seen LTTE activity and may have been used as a route during the armed conflict.
The excavation took place from 9am to 12 noon in the presence of the Sammanthurai Magistrate, the Sammanthurai Pradeshiya Sabha chairman, senior Sri Lankan police officers, Special Task Force personnel, Grama Niladhari officers, Divisional Secretariat officials and representatives of the Department of Archaeology.
No evidence was recovered during the search.
The operation comes amid continued scrutiny of Sri Lankan security activity across the North-East, where police, intelligence units and the military have repeatedly invoked alleged LTTE links to justify searches, arrests and surveillance more than seventeen years after the end of the armed conflict.