TID search for remains of Lion Air crew

by Dhaneshi Yatawara

Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lanka Police are investigating to find the remains of the crew of the Lion Air flight that went missing on September 29, 1998 in the seas north of Mannar.

The TID will search for the remains of the crew in the Pooneryn beach in the north western coastline, based on the facts given by the LTTE activist apprehended by the TID in April this year.

"During the investigation the terrorist told the TID officers that the LTTE buried the bodies of the crew on the Pooneryn beach and accordingly the TID will conduct investigations on the site to find out whether the remains would be there," said Police Spokesman SP Prashantha Jayakody.

A team of experts in Forensic Medicine and Judicial Medical Officers have already reached the area to conduct investigations, SP Jayakody said.

The Lion Air 602 Antonov which took off with 48 passengers, six crew members and two Ukranian pilots, from the Palali airbase to Ratmalana, on September 29, 1998, went missing from the radar screen after 10 minutes. The LTTE suspect apprehended by the TID this April, Shiwasubramaniam Thillaraj, confessed that an LTTE leader had ordered the shooting, even though they were aware that it was carrying Tamil civilian passengers to Colombo.