03 June, 2007 - Published 10:57 GMT

Red cross workers killed in Colombo

The International Red Cross in Sri Lanka says two of its volunteers have been abducted and shot dead by gunmen claiming to be policemen.

Their bodies were found in Kiriella, near central Sri Lankan town of Ratnapura.

The two, both from the Tamil community, had been seized at the Colombo fort railway station in the capital on Friday night.

The bodies were identified as Sinnarasa Shanmugalingam, 32, Secretary of the Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRC) Volunteer Unit and Karthikesu Chandramohan, 27, Assistant Executive Officer.

Abducted in Colombo

The deaths mark the worst attack against aid workers in Sri Lanka since the killings of seventeen workers of a French aid agency in August.

The two workers were abducted by unknown people came in a white van while waiting for a train to Batticaloa, head of SLRC Batticaloa branch K Vasantharajah said.

Six SLRC employees were waiting at the station to return home after attending a two-day workshop in Colombo, he added.

Police reaction

Police said the investigations are being carried out over the killing of aid workers.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG), S Prathapasinghe, told BBC Sandeshaya that there was no link between the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the abduction.

A Sri Lanka Army statement said the abductees have arrived in a white van bearing registration No 251- 6437.

DIG Prathapasinghe said police are they are trying to trace the address.

President: false allegations

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has meanwhile accused human rights groups of making false allegations for political reasons.

Ninety percent of those went missing have returned home since gone missing, President Rajapaksa told family members of the abducted persons on Friday night.

"He emphasized that a large number of the complaints made alleging that persons who had disappeared had been abducted, were incorrect," a statement issued by the Presidential Secretariat said.