Sixty nine suspects including 14 women were detained among the 1200 persons who were taken in for questioning during the cordon and search operation on Thursday, police sources said. The operation was conducted under the Emergency Regulations after the three major bomb blasts in the city and the suburbs within three weeks. As per authoritative reports, the 12 hour curfew was imposed to apprehend the 10 suicide bombers who were believed to have infiltrated the city.

     Colombo DIG Jagath Jayawardane told the Daily News that special teams were conducting investigations to discover their places of origin and the reason they had come from the North and East to seek shelter at several lodges in Colombo.

     According to The Island one woman suspect who was taken for questioning by the Kesekwatte police had been identified as a potential LTTE recruit.

     Meanwhile, army personnel have recovered an explosives jacket, buried in a timber depot in Kotahena on Saturday night, said the Daily Mirror. A suspect described as a "handler" who was arrested at Batticaloa area had revealed this information. The suspect was still being questioned as to whether there were other suicide jackets and cadres in the city. According to security sources, the suspect has confessed that the jacket was to be used in a operation planned for this week, The Island said. An AK 47 machine gun was also found in the same place some time ago.

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