The Kandy police warned residents not to accommodate outsiders without registration at the nearest police station. Over 50 Tamil youths were arrested in the hill capital in early August and eight were detained. A man was arrested in Kurunegala in early August. Police say bomb-making material was hidden in his vegetable basket. Jaffna resident B Kumaran and his wife Vimalarani were taken into custody at Ketawala in Talatu Oya, five miles south-east of Kandy, on 14 August. According to the police, gelignite and detonators were found at their home.
Badulla MP TV Sennan says that over 100 Hill Country Tamils are in detention without trial. Three Tamils, including 17 year-old Vijayalatchumy, were arrested in a bus at Peradeniya on 17 August. Temple priest K Karmegam of Deltota Estate in Galaha was detained four days later.
Human rights agencies say that of the 1,694 arrests of Tamils reported in August in the island, 113 were in the Hill Country and 385 in Colombo. LTTE cadres Srikanthan and Mahendrakumar were arrested in Colombo in August. Police claim that plots to assassinate senior politicians, including Health minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, Justice minister GL Peiris and EPDP leader Douglas Devananda have been uncovered.
In cordon and search operations in Pettah, Kotahena and Maradana suburbs on 11 August, over 100 Tamils were detained. Following information that nine Tigers had infiltrated the city, 210 Tamils were taken into custody on 23 August.
Kandy resident DLD Schokman says in a fundamental rights application that he suffered torture at Kandy police station after his arrest on 18 August last year. He alleges that he was detained for eight months and forced to sign a confession before being produced in a court.
Amnesty International has said that the prevailing climate of impunity encourages torture. In early August the Supreme Court ordered a report from a government Judicial Medical Officer (JMO), after Vavuniya resident S Parameswaran alleged torture following his arrest on 26 April.
Teacher D Nimalan alleges that his head was covered with a plastic bag dipped in petrol and he was given electric shocks at a Vavuniya Army camp. N Suresh, 19, arrested on 18 June, was tortured at Mavadivembu Army camp and admitted to the Batticaloa hospital in a critical condition. In mid-August, a Batticaloa court ordered the arrest of soldiers responsible for the torture.