The chairman of the Office for Missing Persons (OMP) has tried to insinuate that the skeletal remains unearthed from a mass grave in Mullaitivu belong to missing persons.
According to reports from the north, Mahesh Katulanda made the claim while speaking to journalists at the site at Kokkutuduvai.
It came a day after excavations at the site resumed for the fourth time.
However, it has already been scientifically determined the remains were that of members of the LTTE.
In a 35-page interim report submitted to courts, forensic archaeologist Prof. Raj Somadeva said the bodies had been buried there following a firefight during the 1994-96 period.
Twenty-one days of excavations so far have unearthed skeletal remains belonging to 40 men and women.
Water supply workers digging to lay pipelines stumbled upon the gravesite in June 2023.