Excavation work on the mass grave at Chemmani in Sri Lanka’s northern province has been halted pending fresh allocation of funds by the Justice Ministry, news agency the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
Citing lawyers close to the operation, the PTI reported that after 45 days of excavation work, the second stage of the work was halted at noon on Saturday.
The lawyers said the funds for the remainder of the work are expected to be made available within the next two weeks.
So far, 240 skeletal remains have been excavated.
The lawyers said apart from the skeletons, 14 piles of bones and paraphernalia such as feeding bottles for infants, a doll, toys and children’s bags and shoes have been found.
The judicial medical officer has sought eight more weeks of excavations from the Jaffna magistrate, according to a report dated August 14.
The lawyers close to the operation said that at the next court hearing scheduled for September 18, the judicial medical officer will submit an expenditure estimate for two more months to the court.
Skeletal remains were discovered on February 13 this year at Chemmani during a routine development. A week later, the court ordered a judicial examination of them. On May 15, the excavations began under judicial supervision.
In 1998, Chemmani came under focus for an alleged mass grave, at the height of the conflict between the outlawed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and government troops. Around 15 skeletons were discovered then.
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka last week said there exists a “reasonable likelihood” that the burials at the Chemmani mass grave in the north were “unlawful” and had been caused as a “result of extrajudicial killings”. (Newswire/PTI)