Lalith and Kugan held by military says FSP

The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) said yesterday that they had received reliable information that their comrades Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganadan were being held in military custody in the North.

The two party members disappeared last December and, since then, the party has made many attempts to trace them.

FSP Propaganda Secretary Pubudu Jayagoda told a news conference, “We have received information that Lalith and Kugan are alive and that they are in military custody in the North. There had been a discussion about them amongst high ranking officials yesterday. So we are quite sure that they are being unlawfully detained by the military. However, even earlier, we had received information saying that the military was involved in the abductions. The police also tried to hide the truth about the situation instead of trying to find the missing people. We found out afterwards that Lalith and Kugan had first been taken to a welfare building situated in Fort and then to a branch of the police crimes division. But there are no police records regarding these actions,” he said.

Mr. Jayagoda urged the government to release them and said they were in grave danger and should be protected.

Sirithunga Jayasuriya, the leader of the United Socialist Party, who was also present, said, “The government has still not made an official statement regarding the abduction of Lalith and Kugan. The same goes for the missing journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda. Nimal Ruban and Dilrukshan were murdered while in prison. And so far the government has failed to issue death certificates for them or offer an apology,” he said.

Speaking further, Jayasuriya said the government should accept responsibility for the murders of Nimal and Dilrukshan and also for the abduction of Lalith and Kugan and release the latter two immediately. He said the government should also reveal where they were keeping Prageeth Ekneligoda.

The government has still not made an official statement regarding the abduction of Lalith and Kugan. The same goes for the missing journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda