Minister of Law and Order Sagala Ratnayake rejected that the attack on two police officers in Chunnakam recently was a direct attack on police.

Speaking in Parliament, he said that this attack occurred when they attempted to foil a robbery.

A gang named 'Aava' had circulated handbills in some areas claiming that they attacked the police in retaliation to the death of two Jaffna University students recently, allegedly due to police shooting.

The police have launched an operation to apprehend members of the ‘Aava’ gang in the North, Rathnayake said. 

The minister said that the shooting incident in Jaffna recently, where two Jaffna university students were killed, involved police officers who were looking for ‘Aava’ sword gang members.

He also said that a comprehensive investigations have been launched on the incident.