Tough action against deserters failing to obtain legal discharge

31 December 2016 11:29 am

About 6,500 deserters of the tri-forces get themselves legally discharged from the service during the month-long amnesty from December 1, Army Spokesman Roshan Seneviratne said yesterday.

He said nine officers and 6,502 soldiers of the Army, two high-ranking officers and 614 other ranks of the Navy and 20 Officers and 294 Airmen of the Air Force had reported to their respective stations expressing their desire to obtain legal discharge.

“Among them, 5,667 soldiers and four officers had already obtained their legal discharge. A large number of tri-forces personnel who are considered as Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL) have reported to their respective services to get their legal discharge during this month,” he said.

Earlier, a month long general amnesty period was announced by the Defence Ministry starting from December 1 to 31 for tri-forces deserters to get their legal discharge.

This is the second general amnesty offered to tri-forces deserters during this year while the first was in effect from June 13th to July 12th.

“Authorities have decided to take tough measures against deserters who fail to report during this amnesty period,” the Ministry said.