Acting police media spokesperson Sajeewa Medawatta stated that the 3 prison officers of the Vavuniya prison are still being held hostage by the LTTE inmates held there.

He further stated that the 3 hostages have not been harmed so far.

However he also stated that steps have been taken to quell the unrest that has occurred inside the prison today.

A special team of officers attached to the Colombo Prisons’ Headquarters have been deployed to quell the tense situation which exists within the Vavuniya Prison premises.

A group of LTTE inmates at the Vavuniya prison had commenced a hunger strike yesterday demanding that a detainee who had been apprehended by the Terrorist Investigation Department be returned to the Vavuniya prison complex.