The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) today informed Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama that out of 10,000 gold items believed to have belonged to the LTTE and discovered in camps, illegal banks and buildings in the Northern and Eastern Provinces during the humanitarian operation and thereafter sent to the National Gem and Jewellery Authority on court orders, 6,000 items have now been handed over to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
The court had earlier directed the National Gem and Jewellery Authority to examine the 10,000 gold items and submit a detailed report to court and to the CID, setting out the gold content and weight of the items.
Accordingly, CID officers told court that following such examination by the Authority, 6,000 items had been transferred to the Central Bank.
They further submitted this information while tendering an additional progress report when the case was taken up in court.
It had previously been brought to the attention of court that the gold items recovered in the Northern and Eastern Provinces during the humanitarian operation had either been voluntarily given by the local residents to the LTTE, or had been taken by the LTTE from them by force, and that investigations are continuing to ascertain these matters.