The Special Report

20th February 2000

Taming the Tiger in the hills

By Leon Berenger In Kandy and Nuwara Eliya

Police in Central Province taking pre-emptive action to combat terror

On-the-spot report

Two years after the bloody LTTE attack on the nation's holiest Buddhist shrine, the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, security authorities in the Central Province are neither relaxing nor slackening measures they have taken to enhance security and foil any attacks.

The security in the region which has a substantial population of Tamils of Indian origin rests largely with the local Police who have taken several new measures to counter renewed LTTE threats in the area even as terrorist activities continue to occur in other parts of the country.

Several pre-emptive actions have already been put into operation, senior Police officials of the province disclosed.

To start with, the Police have drawn in more participation of civilians into these new exercises and this has already proved to be successful as the threat of terrorism is made more and more aware among the general public.

"Today we are receiving more cooperation from the public than ever before, and certain information provided to us has led to successful findings and breakthroughs in terrorism investigations," Central Province Deputy Inspector General Sirisena Herath told The Sunday Times..

The 'Security Prevention Action' as the police would like to call the new security measures in this region has been split into several categories involving the Police, residents, local government officials such as Grama Sevakas etc., heads of departments, public passenger coach operators and conductors, taxi drivers, school principals and even students to some extent.

It is through this people's participation at all levels that the Police hope to make the areas more safe for its residents and others while at the same time hunting down the LTTE and its sympathisers.

To begin with, there are the city sectors handled by the local Police with an inspector in charge of the unit. These units are given the task of conducting search operation whenever and where they feel it necessary with minimum inconvenience to the people.

Police dogs are also often thrown in to give these operations more muscle.

DIG Herath said the Police units were regularly advised by senior officers that they should always maintain a high level of public relations during these operations or else it may hurt the sentiments of minority groups and deepen the ethnic hatred.

"I leave no room whatsoever for any form of ethnic bias, and the men on the beat are repeatedly reminded of this. We all know what this kind of adverse attitude has done to the country. So it will be foolish and wrong to repeat anything that comes close to it," he said.

Then there are estate security conferences every month with Police and senior plantation officials such as managers and union leaders participating.

During this conference chaired by a Police Superintendent, estate authorities are reminded of preventive actions when it comes to registering persons and new comers in the plantations.

In other words it is the responsibility of the estate authorities to see that all their staff members are registered with the local Police and going through procedures such as the signing of register forms and furnishing photographs and other supporting documents.

The estate bosses are also reminded of the security precautions that should be adopted in a case of emergency and how the police could be contacted immediately.

To help in such circumstances, the Police have set up a 'strike force' where combat-trained officers, including sharp shooters, are deployed on motorcycles to reach a troubled spot in quick time.

Attention is also paid to vehicles entering and leaving to and from volatile areas in the north and east via the Central Province. For this purpose, the assistance of bus crews and taxi drivers are sought by the Police who meet them on a regular basis and discuss preventive actions.

As a further security measure, posters and handbills, detailing what should be done in a case of emergency, are distributed among them, Assistant Superintendent Daya Samaraweera said.

The police Kennel Division has come to be of immense help to the Police operations and several detections have been made with the help of sniffer dogs, ASP Samaraweera said.

One significant finding was made recently when dogs helped investigators to detect two kilograms of high explosives cleverly attached to a passenger seat in a bus.

The detection was made at a roadblock on the outskirts of Kandy town. The private-owned inter-city bus was coming from Batticaloa and had on its way passed several Police and military checkpoints with the explosives going unnoticed. "So it was the dogs which made the difference," ASP Samaraweera said.

In another incident at the Kandy railway station, Police dogs picked up the scent of ammunition found in a bag belonging to a soldier returning home on leave. It was later established that the soldier had allegedly smuggled the ammunition out of the camp probably to hawk it in the underworld.

Then there are the Police Village Committees set up in each Grama Sevaka division of the central region where the local officials are urged to report on the happenings in their neighbourhoods.

And perhaps for the first time the Police have also sought the assistance of school children to know what is happening in their neighbourhoods.

School children are advised to write down any information they possess and drop it into the 'Suggestion Boxes' set up in all schools of the region.

The box remains locked with one key in the possession of the Police and the other with the principal.

"A similar system is practised in certain parts of India to combat terror and crime. There could be cases where children may have heard or seen something which they fear to mention it even to their parents, friends and even relatives. They are certain not to come to the Police and so the safest and easiest way to send out this information is through the suggestion box in schools," ASP Samaraweera said.

He said information did not have to be confined only to terrorist related activities. Students could even report on the happenings in their villages such as vice and crime.

In addition to this, dozens of plainclothes Police officers ride the buses and trains, mingling with the people with their ears and eyes open.

"At present we are hoping to expand these mufti-clad operations to a wider area but it is being held up for the lack of manpower," one senior Police officer based in Nuwara Eliya said.

Unlike Kandy and other central areas, the situation in Nuwara Eliya is more complicated as the area is the home to hundreds of thousands of Tamils of Indian origin who work mainly on the plantations and whose poverty and innocence could be exploited by the LTTE to fill in its depleting cadre.

"These are areas where suspected LTTE infiltrators could attempt to find a safe haven. Investigations have to be carried out in a most delicate manner or else we could have a labour problem on our hands if the wrong tactics are used," the officer said.

Here again the police depend on union leaders to provide information on any suspicious happenings behind estate line rooms and for possible LTTE infiltrations.

A spate of recent minor bombings has raised alarm that LTTE cadres who are terrorising Colombo and suburbs with bombs may target the Central Province areas next.

The activities of some foreign-funded NGOs have also come up for scrutiny following information that they sympathise with the LTTE's separatist campaign.

"We know that some of their activities do not conform with the work they are supposed to do, and this is causing concern," a Police officer who did not wish to be named told The Sunday Times.

Recalling an LTTE attack on the Rupavahini receiving station at the Pidurutalagala peak many years ago, the officer said he could not rule out that the province was free from LTTE activities.

"Therefore we cannot relax but must remain alert at all times," he said.

Inside the glass house

Editorial/ Opinion Contents