LTTE-held gold to be returned to owners

By Supun Dias
The Military which is in the process of returning the gold jewellery recovered from ‘Tamil Eelam Banks’ and ‘Eelam Pawning Centres’ to the rightful owners in the North have requested the people to collect the items from Civil Coordinating Offices by producing documents to prove ownership.

"The security forces have identified 2,377 legitimate claimants to the jewellery though some of them had already been pawned by the owners "

The Civil Coordinating Offices are situated in the Wanni, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar and Jaffna.
The recovered jewellery has been documented, catalogued and kept safe and secure under the custody of the Security Forces on the directions of the President.
The security forces have so far identified 2,377 legitimate claimants to the jewellery though some of them had already been pawned by the owners as evidenced in some receipts, produced by them.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurated the programme to return the gold jewellery by handing them to 25 owners in the Northern Province at a ceremony held in Kilinochchi on Sunday.
A statement issued by the Sri Lanka Army noted that, “in order to expedite the process of returning the remaining jewellery, the civilians who still possess any LTTE-issued documents or any other piece of evidence, acceptable or supportive documents to that effect, are encouraged to report to the nearest Civil Coordinating Offices of the Security Forces in the respective areas to initiate the process of identification and the subsequent return of the jewellery to the rightful owners.” The statement noted that in the event the legitimate claimants could not be traced, the gold would be handed over to the Central Bank in accordance with state regulations.