A Tamil rebel killed himself by swallowing a cyanide capsule as he was questioned by army interrogators after being detained at a checkpoint in northwestern Sri Lanka, the military said Thursday.
The guerrilla, whose name was not disclosed, was taken in for questioning at Bakthipura checkpoint in Mannar district on Wednesday, said Brig Prasad Samarasinghe, a military spokesman. “When the officers were questioning him, he swallowed the cyanide capsule,” Samarasinghe said. The man died soon after.
Samarasinghe said the man was giving conflicting answers to questions about his identity and when he was told that he may be detained for further investigation, he swallowed the capsule. The rebels, who are fighting for a separate homeland in the countryÂ’s north and the east, typically wear a cyanide capsule around their neck to be used in case they are captured by Sri Lankan forces. |