The mass grave at Sittapandi in Chemmani, Jaffna has become the third biggest of its kind in the country with skeletal remains of 85 persons found there so far.
It surpassed the one found at Tiruketeeswaran in Mannar, from where 82 skeletal remains were found in 2023.
In Chemmani, the 18th day of phase two excavations unearthed five human skulls on 23 July, said lawyer for the victims V.S. Niranjan, adding that 20 skulls have been found within the space last three days.
Of the total skeletal remains found there, 67 have been retrieved by now, he told journalists.
The biggest mass grave in Sri Lanka is the one at the land belonging to the CWE in Mannar, where human remains of 367 persons were unearthed.
It is followed by the Matale mass grave with human remains of 155 found in 2013.
From Kottutuduwai, 52 human remains were unearthed before the site was closed, and no details are yet available from another found at Colombo’s old Secretariat premises in July last year.
All these mass graves were found by chance.
A recent protest in Colombo by trade unions and people’s organisations called for investigations into more than 20 mass graves in the country.