Mannar mass grave an ordinary cemetery: DG

8 April 2014 07:36 am - 14 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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The skeletons unearthed at Thiruketheeswaram in Mannar were reportedly of bodies buried since the 1930’s, further it is not a mass grave site as earlier believed, but an ordinary cemetery, the Archeological Department Director General said today.

The remains were first discovered on December 20 by some workers digging a trench to lay a pipeline, 2013. The Mannar Magistrate had instructed the Archeological Department to investigate and report on the findings.

“Investigations carried out by the Department have revealed that the grave site has existed since the 1930’s and that it is an ordinary cemetery. The bodies had been buried with the hands on the belly with the head in a westerly direction as in normal burials,” Director General Senarath Dissanayake told a news conference.

He said there were several differences between a mass grave site and a normal cemetery.

“Unlike in a normal cemetery where bodies are buried separately and in an orderly manner, where a mass grave is concerned bodies are dumped together and piled one over the other in a haphazard manner,” he said and added that about 60 skeletons had been recovered so far from the Mannar mass grave site. (Lahiru Pothmulla)

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Comments - 14

ABC Tuesday, 08 April 2014 01:58 PM

Could this be a mass grave by UK when they occupied SL? via DM Android App

Lakminiha Tuesday, 08 April 2014 02:34 PM

Why did they take so long (till the election is over) to reveal this? via DM Android App

raj Tuesday, 08 April 2014 09:11 AM

[quote name="ABC"]Could this be a mass grave by UK when they occupied SL? via DM Android App[/quote]
typical, always put the blame on others as usual

ind Tuesday, 08 April 2014 09:31 AM

If it had taken long, who is benefiting it?? Not anybody else, opposition!!

Kamal Raj Tuesday, 08 April 2014 09:33 AM

Kamak nehe haarapan ! Pillei noonage kattiya enda issella borella kanatthat haaramu. Okkoma LTTE eken samuula gaathanaya kala kiya unta kiyamu.

Lankaavema thiyena kanatthaval haaramu

billy Tuesday, 08 April 2014 09:44 AM

[typical, always put the blame on others as usual[/quote]
a real trait ..

ram Tuesday, 08 April 2014 10:51 AM

what’s goes around comes around very soon .

Grave Digger Tuesday, 08 April 2014 05:11 PM

All graves are required by law to be surveyed and recorded accordingly in the registries concerned and with the local councils. The existence of this grave would have been known to the officials in these registries and council. Silence on this issue may have been an attempt to shift the blame on to the government by some political opportunists in Mannar. via DM iPad app

gona Tuesday, 08 April 2014 05:29 PM

Good bedtime story. Reading these stories very good fairy tale. Better than Harry Potter. Only we will call these Potta Harry. via DM iPad app

Ranjo Tuesday, 08 April 2014 01:05 PM

Wait wait.. who said Hindu burial follows keep the head to west tradition? Hindus generally cremate, not go for burial. Good try, DG.

Mason Tuesday, 08 April 2014 01:11 PM

A grave site from 1930 could not have been forgotten so soon. Have you been told to say this !!

M.O.A.Careem Tuesday, 08 April 2014 01:11 PM

hide a pumpkin in a plate of rise

Ranjo Tuesday, 08 April 2014 01:11 PM

See the pictures in the link, particularly the third one. Do we see a regular patters, like heads in westerly directions and bodies tidily away from each other?

CROW Tuesday, 08 April 2014 02:13 PM

YOU ARE 100 % RIGHT SIR

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Mannar mass grave an ordinary cemetery: DG

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