Harbouring of Army Absentees is a punishable offence; Army

Sri Lanka Army Headquarters requested public from aiding or abetting Army deserters, harbouring or using them for any anti-social acts since it is a punishable offence according to Penal code, a statement from Army said,

The Army said it has been brought to notice that sections of Army deserters or those absent without leave (AWOL), some of them still in hiding, are reportedly involved in committing criminal acts, robberies and various anti-social acts in different parts of the island.

"In many instances, most of those elements operate under the cover or patronage of businessmen, underworld leaders, employers and different other stakeholders and resort to such anti-social acts as per Police reports. Furthermore, some of them appear to seek refuge from some politically powerful elements and members of the clergy," the Army said. 

It is pertinent to remind here that provision of employment or harbouring of those Army absentees or deserters amounts to breach of the country's existing law and is an offence punishable in Court (133 of the Penal Code).

Likewise, respective Police stations as well as Sri Lanka Military Policemen with the assistance of state agencies are continuing operations island-wide to arrest those elements since they have repeatedly failed to receive general amnesties for legal discharge or report back to their relevant Army formations for discharge procedures.