ONCE AGAIN TWO ARMY SOLDIERS MISSING FROM WELIOYA ARMY CAMP FROM WHERE LTTE USED TO KIDNAP SOLDIERS
By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
May 28, 10.15 AM: Two soldiers from the Welioya Sri Lanka Army camp who were cutting timber in the Kambiliwewa jungles Wednesday were missing, Defense Ministry authorities complained to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.
In the past, the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) used to kidnap unarmed Sri Lanka Army soldiers from the same camp while they were engaged in civilian duties.
Army sources said, two soldiers from the National Defense Force Gamini Bandara and Sarath Gunasekera never returned from the jungle after seven of them went into the woods to cut timber. They were believed to be collecting timber to build a bunker at Kambiliwewa.
The same sources said search parties combed the Kambiliwewa jungles near Etha Wetuna Wewa after the duo did not return like their colleagues . The search parties were unable to find out any clues about their disappearance.
Army authorities were wondering whether the two lost their way in the jungle, whether they were kidnapped like previously by armed LTTE guerillas or whether they met with any other accident in the jungle.
Once Sri Lanka army soldiers collecting sand for repairs in the camp were kidnapped at gun point and taken into custody. During January in 2003 Lance Corporal H.S.Nimal Kumara was taken into custody at gun point and detained at Kilinochchi. After the kidnappings the LTTE was negotiating with the Ranil Wickremesinghe government to exchange them with LTTE criminals in Sri Lanka jails.
