Security forces handed over four bodies to staff at Kanthale Hospital claiming these were LTTE cadre killed in an ambush on June 28^th. However, it seems that the facts were quite different.

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These were in fact bodies of four Muslim civilians killed at Nelumvawa in Seruvila police station. One villager, who had saved his life by hiding in the jungle when the attack took place, presented a very different story. A group of 8 had gone fishing and were at the tank when they heard explosions and firings. The group scattered with everyone else fleeing the site while this person hid. He said that there was a group of Army soldiers who spoke Sinhalese and attacked the fishermen despite the fishermen telling them that they were fishermen from a nearby Muslim fishing community. One of the eight was a young boy who the soldiers beat to death, the survivor reported.

The soldiers, it seems, then tried to pass these bodies as that of LTTE, even adding weapons and cyanide capsules. When the survivor returned to his village and word spread that Sinhalese soldiers had killed some Muslim civilians, the army denied these accusations and claimed that the killers were LTTE soldiers even though there was no LTTE activity in the area. As of June 30^th, as per a BBC report, Deputy foreign minister Husain Bahila said that according to information received these may be stray LTTE soldiers while agreeing that LTTE was not active in that neighborhood.

Yet, speaking to a local newspaper, a resident of this village (Palliyagodella) said that government parliamentarians had approached the villagers and told them that the bodies could be released on condition that they will not accuse government
security forcers for the killings. This seemed like an unnecessary maneuver if indeed the government was telling the truth.

On 3^rd July, however, a report in Daily Mirror said that Army had killed four armed poachers in the vicinity of a location where the Sri Lankan Prime Minister was planning a visit. When the soldiers saw armed men at the edge of a clearing they opened fire since the Army was on Red Alert for fear of LTTE activity given the PM visit. Four of the armed men were killed but one escaped. The government website also carried another item stating that 11 LTTE men were killed in that area. <

Given these changing reports, it seems that the government is manufacturing stories after its soldiers killed some innocent civilians who were on a fishing trip. It is unlikely that the men or their families will find justice as the Sri Lankan soldiers carry on this violence against civilians.