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Prison chief wants Tiger escort for A9 ride
By Chris Kamalendran
The Prisons Department is to request for LTTE escort for prisoners being transported along the A9 road with immediate effect, a spokesman said yesterday.

The decision follows an incident early this week where a suspect held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was forcibly removed from a prisons vehicle when it was travelling through an uncleared area in the Wanni district.

Jaffna Prisons's Chief S. Sivasundaram told The Sunday Times that in future they would ask the LTTE to provide escort for the vehicle from Muhamalai upto Omanthai. Earlier escort was being provided only between Muhamalai to Mankulam.

Mr. Sivasundaram said the particular suspect who had been removed by unidentified persons was charged for involvement with the LTTE and had been on bail, but had failed to turn up in courts when the case was taken up.

Police had arrested the suspect, Sivalingam Jayaseelan, at Mallakam and produced him before the Mallakam Magistrate who remanded him. He was being taken by the prisons officials to be produced before the Vavuniya High Court.

The suspect along with two others charged under PTA had left Muhamalai at 11 on Monday and stayed overnight at the Mankulam LTTE police station where the three suspects had been interrogated by the LTTE.

The following day the Prison officials had taken the suspects and left around 7 a.m, but five kilometers away from Mankulam town four armed persons appeared, overpowered the prison officials and escaped with one suspect.

Mr. Sivasundaram said that previously they had made more than 30 trips through the uncleared areas and this was the first time such an incident had taken place.

'In future without an LTTE assurance we will not send in prisoners,' he said.
Meanwhile the issue was raised by the Sri Lankan delegation at the peace talks in Thailand.

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