P W Kodippily, the prison chief said that Vavuniya jail's 201 inmates were transferred to a jail in the north central town of Anuradhapura after police's special task force and the army jointly carried out a raid in the premises to free three jailor guards taken hostage by LTTE suspects.
The LTTE suspects launched a hunger strike since yesterday demanding that a fellow inmate transferred out elsewhere be brought back to Vavuniya. Yesterday evening they took hostage three prison guards.
"They (jailors) have now been admitted to hospital as they were found to be ill treated under captivity. They had been made to starve", Kodippily said.
Kodippily said the LTTE prisoner was transferred as a result of a court order. The jail will be re-opened once the repair work to damages caused as a result of commotion inside the jail.