The total number of human bodies recovered from the Chemmani mass grave in Jaffna has risen to 351.
With this, Chemmani has now become the largest mass grave discovered in the Northern Province, surpassing the former Sathosa mass grave in Mannar, which had been regarded as the largest in the region following the recovery of skeletal remains of 342 individuals.
Meanwhile, the Jaffna “Mahajana Kriya Kriya” (People’s Action Organization) launched a campaign named “Eternal Flame” on Sunday the 28th, calling for justice for the hundreds of people believed to have been buried at the site.
According to a confession made by Somaratne Rajapaksa, an accused in the 1998 murder case of student Krishanthi Coomaraswamy, 15 skeletons were initially discovered during excavations carried out in 1999, after which legal proceedings were later suspended. However, in February 2025, construction workers once again uncovered skeletal remains, leading to the resumption of excavations under orders from the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court. Further investigations are currently being conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
