Troops unearth arms after raids on Kovils
Forces warn against clergy colluding with Tigers

by Shamindra Ferdinando The Island

The military has warned the clergy against colluding with the LTTE amidst growing evidence that places of religious worship are being increasingly used to store arms, ammunition and equipment.

An authoritative military official said that troops would act swiftly on the receipt of information regarding hidden weapon stores in areas under government control.

The warning comes in the aftermath of raids on three Hindu kovils in Kayts and Kokkadicholai where troops recovered arms, ammunition, explosives and four suicide jackets in the past several days.

In separate raids carried out on April 29 and May 2 troops recovered a sizeable quantity of arms, ammunition and explosives from three Kovils.

A joint SLN-Police contingent on May 2 recovered one claymore mine weighing five kgs, 900 gms of C – 4 explosives, three anti personnel mines (APM), three APM fuses, three modified chargers, one pouch,

24 electric detonators, 150 rounds of T – 56 ammunition and one claymore tripod, concealed in a niche above the statue of the deity in Perumkulam Muttumari Amman Kovil at Velanipuram, Kayts.

The military said that the weapons had been hidden with the connivance of kurukkals (priests). The recovery was made from the inner chamber of the kovil. Troops arrested two priests. The official emphasised that there was no doubt that they were aware of the weapons store. "What we like to know is whether they cooperated under duress," he said. "The LTTE could not have secreted weapons in the inner chamber without their knowledge."

The May 2 operation followed the SLN raid on another kovil at Velani, Kayts where the Tigers’ Jaffna Islands leader and his deputy committed suicide on April 29. They were among five LTTE cadres killed in the raid.

The raiding party recovered a hitherto unidentified explosive device used to carry out human bomb attacks. Inquiries revealed the two leaders exploded similar devices which blasted their bodies leaving their heads intact. A Hindu priest died in the confrontation.

Speculation is that the gang holed up in the kovil had killed an SLN Lieutenant deployed in Kayts.

At Kokkadicholai, police commandos recovered four explosives laden suicide jackets hidden in an archway of Sivam Kovil, Kokkadicholai. Each suicide jacket weighed 3 ½ kgs. The LTTE is believed to have hidden a brief case containing the four suicide jackets before they abandoned Kokkadicholai recently. A senior police official said that the troops would search places of religious worship.

Last February troops recovered an arms cache from St. Mary’s Church, Jaffna. The military pointed out that unlike the recoveries made at Kayts and Kokkadicholai, the search at St. Mary’s was conducted following a tip off from the Catholic clergy.

More raids are on the cards. Speculation is that the LTTE intends to step up hit and run attacks on troops in government-held areas, particularly in the Jaffna and Batticaloa to offset the mounting pressure on units operating in hostile terrain.