Twelve Sri Lanka Navy personnel were injured following a clash between illegal sand miners in Kandakadu, Kinniya and the Navy.
According to Navy spokesman Isuru Suriya Bandara, four among the injured are in a critical condition and they are receiving treatment at the Trincomalee General Hospital.
He said that the Sri Lanka Navy and the Special Task Force have been conducting raids on illegal sand miners in the Mahaveli river. Two illegal sand miners who jumped into the river to escape Navy personnel had gone missing and the Police succeeded in recovering a body of a sand miner last night.
The Navy and the STF have been conducting regular raids in the area to eradicate illegal sand mining in the Mahaweli estuary. Several illegal sand miners were arrested and brought to book by the Police and Navy during the past few days.
A tense situation prevailed in the area, when two illegal sand miners had gone missing after jumping into the river to escape Police arrest. The STF personnel have beena deployed to maintain law and order in the area.