The Indian government has demanded an investigation into reports that an official from the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) solicited “sexual favours” from Tamil war widows in return for houses from an Indian government-funded project.

The Indian Express reported that Indian foreign ministry officials were taking the matter “extremely seriously” and called for a joint probe with the SLRCS. Instructions were also passed on to the Sri Lankan foreign ministry to prevent the accused individual from leaving.

“We don’t want the accused officials to escape, so the Sri Lankan foreign ministry and their immigration authorities have been informed,” an Indian official said.

“India will not condone any such activity by any of the implementing partners of this project. The Government of India – through its High Commission in Colombo and the consulate in Jaffna – is conducting a joint probe along with the Sri Lankan Red Cross officials,” said an Indian High Commission spokesperson. Another diplomat told the Indian Express that the report would be investigated “expeditiously and thoroughly” and there was “no time-frame”.

The probe comes after the Sunday Times reported SLRCS Kilinochchi Branch Secretary Thampu Sethupathy had received more than 30 written and verbal complaints with similar allegations of demands for sexual favours.

The Sri Lankan military is using vehicles that fleeing Tamil civilians abandoned during the final phase of the armed conflict in 2009, reported the Sunday Times.

Citing the case of 62 year old Kanthan Thadchanasingham, a farmer from Kilinochchi, it reported the military was now continuing to use his tractor that he had abandoned as he fled from shelling during the final days of the armed conflict, which saw tens of thousands of Tamil civilians killed.

Mr Thadchanasingham, who lost his 12 year old daughter due to shelling in the final months of the war, told of how his family had fled from Kilinochchi to Mullivaikkal using his tractor. On the 15 May 2009, the farmer heeded the military’s call and crossed over to Sri Lankan government territory. He was subsequently held at the Menik Farm camp in Vavuniya.

Since then he discovered his tractor, abandoned at Mullivakkal is now under the possession of the Sri Lankan military, which has been using it at the Iranamadu military camp in Kilinochchi.

“I asked the military to handover my vehicle explaining the hardship we are facing but they refused. I went to many senior officials but nothing worked,” he said. “I even borrowed money from neighbours to get a Sinhala translator and to travel to the police station in Kilinochchi. I am now in debt.”

A 14 day joint military training exercise on “counter terrorism and insurgency operations”  between Sri Lankan and Indian military was completed on Monday.

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence, said that the exercise was focused on “instilling confidence in each other’s capability to counter the common threat of terror.”

Sri Lankan MP and Leader of the Democratic Left Front Vasudeva Nanayakkara called for India to be taken before an international tribunal, over the issue of Indian fishermen poaching in “Sri Lankan waters”, as Tamil Nadu's chief minister called for a "strong and sustained diplomatic initiative" from the Indian prime miniser.

"We must take the case before the International Tribunal under the Law of the Sea Convention,” said Mr Nanayakkara. “The continuous violation of International Admiralty Law or the guidelines set by the International Maritime Courts is an international issue.”

“The attempts at the bilateral level failed to find solutions," he added.

His comments come as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jaylalithaa wrote again to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying “it is time the issue is taken up not only through the normal diplomatic channels, but at an appropriately high political level and the release of the fishermen and the boats secured without further delay”.

"We are still awaiting the much anticipated strong and sustained diplomatic initiative to resolve the vexatious issue," she said.

The Sri Lankan government announced that it will scrap a long running presidential commission on missing persons and replace it with another commission.

Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who is also minister for the Buddha Sasana, announced the abolition of the commission but said “we will not abandon its procedure”. Admitting that “even locally, most of the people are not happy with the Commission and they have no faith in its process” he added the government “will go ahead with a commission which will be more effective.”

So far two interim reports have been submitted from the commission to the government, but have yet to be released publically.

The chair of the commission, Justice Maxwell Paranagama, rejected criticism of the mechanism, stating that no one could do the job better. He had earlier spoken out against the UN Panel of Experts' estimated death toll of 40,000 Tamil civilians at the end of the armed conflict in 2009.

Mr Rajapakshe also said the Sri Lankan government is also “considering” the repeal of the Prevention of the Terrorism Act (PTA).