Tamil inmates in Sri Lankan prisons on hunger strike

Colombo, May 21: Nearly 200 former

rebels lodged in

jails are on a hunger

, demanding that their cases be expedited or they be released.

The prisoners have been refusing food since Saturday, the 3rd anniversary of the end of the war with the LTTE.

They demand that their cases be expedited or they be released. They claim that they had been held over the last 3 years without legal proceedings being taken against them. Initially, only 80 prisoners were on strike who were later joined by other inmates.

The hunger strike has since been spread to the Kalutara prison in the south and Vavuniya prison in the north.

PTI