Residents in Jaffna whose kith and kin have gone missing during the height of the war have fallen prey to a racket carried out by an unidentified group which collects money promising to locate the missing persons and then disappears, Police said.
This week at least four families became victims of this racket carried out in the Jaffna town. All of them have complained to the Jaffna police.
The families had received anonymous calls from persons claiming that they were able to track down the missing persons.
They had given specific details of the persons missing including the period the persons were reported missing.
They were told that they were capable of locating the missing persons, but needed Rs. 200,000 to secure the release of each person.
The families had gone with the money and were waiting at Wellington Junction, in Jaffna town. In all four cases two men wearing full-faced helmets had come on a motorcycle and collected the cash claiming they had to pay the money to ‘officials’ to secure the release of the missing persons.
The family members had waited two to three hours for the return of the persons, but as they failed to turn up they had lodged complaints at the Jaffna police station.
Meanwhile the Jaffna police have issued a press statement to the local newspapers in Jaffna warning the public of such a racket and not to fall prey to it. |
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