The Kaluwanchikudy Magistrate’s Court has ordered the Colombo Chief Judicial Medical Officer and the Department of Archaeology to submit a preliminary budget for the scientific excavation of a suspected human burial site identified at Kurukkalmadam in Batticaloa.
The order was issued when the case was taken up on Wednesday (22), as the court moved to expedite preparations for an excavation to be conducted scientifically under judicial supervision.
The court also scheduled a case conference for 5 August to coordinate the next stage of the proceedings.
Notices were issued to the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), the Divisional Secretary of Manmunai South and Eruvil Pattu, the Batticaloa District Land Registrar and the Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) Unit of the Sri Lanka Police, requiring them to appear before court on that date.
The conference is expected to address issues including land ownership and official records, archaeological assessments, forensic examinations and crime scene investigations ahead of the proposed excavation.
Attorney-at-Law Mubarak Muazzam, appearing on behalf of the complainant and victims, urged the court to ensure that the excavation and forensic examinations are carried out without delay.
He submitted that a prompt, independent and scientifically rigorous investigation was necessary to establish the circumstances surrounding the suspected burial site.
The Kurukkalmadam mass grave in Batticaloa is a suspected burial site linked to the 1990 Kurukkalmadam massacre during the Sri Lankan Civil War. On 12 July 1990, more than 160 Muslim civilians, including local residents and travellers returning from the Hajj pilgrimage, were allegedly abducted and killed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Surviving family members and preliminary police investigations subsequently identified a coastal area near the Kurukkalmadam beach, within the Kaluwanchikudy Police Division, as a possible burial site. A court-ordered excavation conducted at a specific location in the area in early 2026, however, concluded without the recovery of human remains or artefacts.
