An islandwide combined raid, conducted by the Police and the Sri Lanka Corps of Military Police (SLCMP) last week, yielded the arrest of 563 Army personnel.

The raid is considered biggest ever conducted on a single day.

The Army personnel are officers who are Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL) - considered to have deserted their posts - Military Spokesman, Brigadier Roshan Seneviratne said.

Raids conducted after the Ministry of Defense (MoD) declared general amnesty have so far seen the arrest of 1 officer and 960 other rankers.

General amnesty ended on December 31, 2016.

During the general amnesty period, 10 officers and 7,816 other rankers received legal discharge from their respective regiments.