Lankan troops seize explosive-laden truck in East

Colombo, June 30: Sri Lankan naval troops seized an explosive-laden truck in the Eastern port city of Trincomalee while the vehicle was on its way to Colombo, allegedly on a suicide mission by Tamil Tiger rebels, Defence Ministry here said today.

The Ministry said the freezer lorry was laden with C-4 high explosives, weighing over 1,000 kg, when it was seized by the navy from the Padikkiya fishing village in Trincomalee.

One suspect, believed to be the truck owner, was arrested. The truck was detained at the Navy Camp at Trincomalee for further investigations. It was revealed in the Defence Ministry report that the explosives were being transported to Colombo to cause severe damage and destruction in Colombo.

This is the fifth failed attempt by the LTTE this month to use explosives by various means to cause a severe explosion in Colombo, it said.

On June 1, a similar detection was made in the north-central province when police constables seized a lorry carrying 100 kgs of C-4 explosives at a road-block.

It was only yesterday that President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, handed over letters of promotion and financial rewards to the policemen who caught the first truck laden with explosives.

At a special ceremony at the Temple Trees, President Rajapaksa rewarded them with Rs 1.8 million cash in addition to promoting them.

UNI

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