President hands over gold possessed by LTTE to rightful owners

Saturday, 6 December 2014 00:47 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday returned another stock of gold possessed by the LTTE to the rightful owners at a function held at the Temple Trees.

Nearly 2,000 rightful owners of the gold jewellery either confiscated by the LTTE or pawned to them by the owners during the LTTE’s control of the north were invited to attend the ceremony at the Temple Trees and receive their possessions from the President. According to the Defence and Urban Development Ministry Media Spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya, the President was to hand over 2,184 parcels of gold jewellery to 1,960 identified rightful owners in the north.

The latest group of 1,960 identified owners came from Mannar (223), Vavuniya (319), Jaffna (45), Kilinochchi (1187) and Mullaitivu (186). President Rajapaksa, last month at a function in Kilinochchi, symbolically inaugurated the return of seized gold with the handover of jewellery to 25 owners of the Northern Province. Yesterday’s handover of jewellery is expected to rebuild trust and to restore the traditions of the people of the north.