Civilians mobilised to protect persons and property

By Jayampathy Jayasinghe

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A mammoth security operation has been launched islandwide with the participation of Civil Committee members to thwart terrorist attacks during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, Senior Supdt of Police I.M. Karunaratne told the Sunday Observer.

He said 3,600 Civil monitoring Committees were set up in the Colombo division each consisting of ten members drawn from the local communities to keep an eye on suspicious persons including terrorists infiltrating into the city.

In addition the Community Police Division has set up 170 units in the Colombo city to assist the Civil Monitoring Committees. More than 25,000 persons have been mobilised during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year festive season.

The police post set up at the Pettah Bo Tree junction would also act as an information centre to help persons stranded in the Colombo city. The Centre has been linked to the Fort Railway station with speakers to react to a situation during an emergency.

The security operation is effective from April 5-15. The plan has been drawn up by the Defence Ministry in conjunction with IGP Victor Perera and DIG Colombo Nimal Mediweka in his capacity as the Chairman of the Civil monitoring committees.

This will be the first occasion where Civilian members have been mobilised to protect persons and property.