A local court in Sri Lanka has said that it may summon the Army chief if he does not cooperate with investigations into the abduction and disappearance of journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda.

Colombo suburban court magistrate Ranga Dissa-nayake made the comments on Monday when the senior state attorney complained that the Army had failed to respond to his request for information in late September.

Eknaligoda, a cartoonist and a journalist, has been missing since January 2010 from the time he backed the presidential campaign of the then Opposition challenger Sarath Fonseka against incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa.

At least six army men attached to military intelligence suspected in the abduction are currently in custody. The Opposition backers of the former President Rajapaksa are using the case to portray it as an act of political vengeance.