In the Vanni, the skeletal remains of a person was found at Periyaparanthan in Kilinochchi District on 11 October. Reports say over 175 people disappeared in Kilinochchi when the Army held the area for two years from 1996. The remains of 69 persons have been found so far. No investigations have been initiated into the alleged disappearances.
In Army-controlled Vavuniya town, a cordon and search operation was conducted on 4 October, after reports of LTTE infiltration from the Vanni. Over 500 people were rounded-up and taken to the Urban Council grounds for enquiry. They were paraded before talayattis or masked informers and 20 were detained.
Vavuniya Magistrate M Ilancheliyan again reprimanded the police in mid-October for harassment of civilians. A man and his wife had been arrested for possession of a motor cycle and two water pumps without permission from the police. The Magistrate pointed out that there is no provision in law requiring them to obtain permission from the police and ordered them to be released.
After a landmine was found on Mannar-Cheddikulam road on 11 October, five people in a nearby house were arrested. The Human Rights Commission (HRC) has been informed that the civilians, including 17 year-old J Nisanthakumar were severely beaten in custody. The HRC says the police Special Intelligence Unit is holding eight people, including Chandrabose Suthagar, the editor of Tamil journal Nilam (Earth).
The Tigers killed two officers of the Irrigation Department in a landmine attack at Kahatagollewa in Anuradhapura District on 12 October. A policeman was killed and five others were wounded by an LTTE landmine on 17 October at Kebittigollewa. On the same day, three soldiers and two Sinhalese farmers died in an attack at Ruwanpitiya in Veli Oya.
In Mannar District, security force intelligence services arrested three members of a family suspected of LTTE links, including Jeyadeepa Mariyadas, 21, in early November. They were taken to Colombo for interrogation. They were refugees from the Vanni and lived in Uppukulam for the last two years.
Further south in Puttalam District, Batticaloa resident Joseph Anthony was taken into custody when he went to Mathurankuli to see his sister on 2 October. Another Batticaloa resident Anthonimuthu Mahendra was arrested in Munthal on the same day.