Violent incidents in the NorthEast – week ending October 29

October 29

● Two gunmen riding a motor cycle shot and killed Sellathurai Sutharsan, 27, of Urumpirai, an auto rickshaw owner, while he was standing in front of his house.

● A fisherman fishing in Silavattai Sea in Mullaithivu district was killed and another injured when the SLN attacked them. Ariveeran Murugappan, 66, father of two, who was displaced from Udappu in Mannar district and living at Selvapuram in Mullaithivu, died in the incident. Veerapathiran Nagarasa, 49, father of six, who was operating the engine at the time of attack and escaped with injuries, is a resident of Selvapuram in Mullaithivu. "We signaled that we were civilians by waving white clothes, but the Sri Lanka Navy sailors, ignored our signals, opened fire and drowned our boat," said Nagarasa, who had managed to swim ashore with his companion's body.

● Six civilians were killed and one seriously injured when a bomb, allegedly carried by a bicyclist, exploded in Udupiddy, Vadamaradchy. While the body of the person who allegedly carried the bomb has not been identified, the five other victims were pedestrians identified as Tharmalingam Rasavi, 54, of Udupiddy, Wijethas Sivendran, 18, and Selvamanickam Gnanendran, 16, both of Valvetitturai, Rasathurai Sasikaran, 23, of Kerudavil, Thondamanaaru, and Tharmalingam Sivanandan, 17, of Imayanan, Karanavai South.

● Gunmen shot dead Suntharalingam Govindan, 16, of Mankadu in Chettipalayam and seriously injured two others at Vantharumoolai Market Road in Eravur. One of the injured was identified as Govindan’s younger brother, Suntharalingam Ramesh, 14, and the other as Kishore Uthayakumar, 15, from Periya Neelavanai.

● Attackers, believed to be paramilitary operatives, lobbed six grenades at the house of Vanni district TNA parliamentarian Sivanathan Kishore, in Rambaikulam, 1 km east of SLA controlled Vavuniya. The parliamentarian, who was at his house, narrowly escaped injury. A policeman providing security to the parliamentarian was wounded and police said they recovered two unexploded grenades.

● Gunmen shot and seriously injured Thampipillai Ranjan, 28, a father of two from Karayakanthivu in Kannankuda, as he was on his way to fish in a pond close to his house in LTTE held territory in Batticaloa.


October 28

● Armed men opened fire on a house Vipulananda Road in Vantharumoolai, Eravur, seriously injuring three young siblings and a baby. The injured were identified as Pathmanathan Selvaranee, 19, Pathmanathan, 17, Pathmanathan Vinothini, 11 and Yathurshan, 01. Yathursan’s family are neighbours of the Pathmanathan siblings.

● Nalliah Sivakumar, 42, was shot dead by at Mallikaitheivu in Muthur division.

● Two LTTE cadres, allegedly on leave visiting their parents, were shot dead by the SLA in two different interior villages in Batticaloa. Representatives of the ICRC have made arrangements to transfer the bodies to the LTTE.

Jeyasri Kunasekaran, alias Nanthaseelan, of Palachcholai, Kakkachchiveddai was killed in 39th Colony, a boarder village between Amparai and Batticaloa districts. Sivappirakasm Rajan, alias Ranjanithevan, of Vijayan Stores road, Kalkudah, Valaichchenai was killed at Nasivanthivu.

Earlier, Valaichchenai Police said that SLA had shot dead a youth in Nasivanthivu and had recovered a T56 assault rifle. Also, Amparai Police had claimed that the STF camp at 11th Colony, Bakkiyella, on the Batticaloa ­ Amparai border, came under attack around and that STF had repulsed the attack. In the ensuing search operation STF had recovered two bodies of LTTE cadres and two T-56 rifles, the Police had claimed.

The LTTE said that the SLA soldiers had killed two unarmed LTTE cadres and had staged their bodies placing weapons nearby to make it appear they were cadres who participated in attacks against the SLA.

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● A field officer attached to Non Violent Democrative Activities Group (NVDAG), a local NGO, who disappeared Wednesday after being interrogated by SLA troopers stationed along the A9 between Chemmani Road junction and Ariyalai Mampalam junction, was released. Thiyagarajah Sajinthan, 28, from Nunavil, Chavakachcheri, set out from the NGO office located at Nunavil along the A9 highway and was stopped by the SLA in the Chemmani area. Sajinthan declined to reveal details of his abductors but said that he had returned home safely.



● A police constable was injured when assailants hurled a hand grenade towards the police officer on Pannaicholai Road in Eravur.



● A member of the paramilitary Karuna Group was shot and seriously injured when gunmen fired at a group of cadres walking from Pillaiyar Temple along Badulla Road to the paramilitaries' office in Chenkalady, Batticaloa. Kanagaratnam Suthersan, alias Sarangan, 19, was rushed to Batticaloa hospital.



● Three SLA troopers were injured when assailants triggered a claymore mine targeted at a SLA road patrol in Veppankulam, Vavuniya.



● Three SLA troopers were injured in a claymore ambush on their military vehicle in a depopulated area between Nagarkovil and Eluthumadduval, behind the SLA FDL. Assailants triggered the claymore mine at a location near Maruthadikulam, where a high ranking SLA officer was killed and two SLA troopers injured in a similar attack nearly three months earlier.



● An SLA soldier was killed when gunmen hurled a hand grenade at a sentry near Saraiyadi, Vadamaradchy along the Point-Pedro - Jaffna Road.



October 27



● An SLA offensive towards LTTE controlled Vaharai in the East was repulsed by the Tigers. "Around 300 Sri Lankan troopers launched a ground offensive backed by artillery and mortar fire from Welikande and Karadikkulam SLA camps and entered our territory via Thirukkonamadu at 7:30 a.m.," said LTTE Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan, speaking to the media from Geneva, Switzerland.



● Two SLA troopers, who were part of a foot patrol, were seriously injured when assailants triggered a claymore mine along Jaffna-Point Pedro Road in Aavarangal, Valigamam East. SLA troops cordoned off a large area in Aavarangal and conducted a search operation. Nearby pedestrians were indiscriminately attacked by SLA troopers brought to the area following the claymore attack, and vehicular traffic along the heavily used Jaffna- Point Pedro road was blocked for more than two hours during the search operation.



● Gunmen shot dead Murugupillai Poopalaratnam, 65, of Thevapuram, Murakodanchenai, Eravur. The assailants called the victim out of his house, shot him at close range, and escaped.



● The owner and operator of a mini-cinema was shot dead by gunmen inside a jewellery store in Kannathiddy junction, Jaffna town. Veerasingham Chandramohan, 42, from Kasturiar Road, Jaffna operated a mini-cinema near Jaffna Hindu College. A few months earlier, arsonists had set fire to his cinema theatre after threatening Chandramohan for showing socially-degrading films, including pornographic ones.



● The bodies of two youths were found at 3rd mile-post, near Chelvanayagapuram, Trincomalee. They had been killed Thursday night by unknown gunmen.



October 26



● The Sea Tigers and SLN clashed for 5-hours in the Kilaly Bay. SLN gunboats off Kerathivu had mistaken Sea Tiger patrol vessels in Sangupitty area as an LTTE attempt to launch an attack on Jaffna, an anonymous SLN told TamilNet. LTTE vessels alleged to have set off from Pooneryn Munai via Sangupitty jetty area toward the Kilaly Bay, were observed by Keratheevu naval troops who began the attack on the Sea Tigers. The SLA, based in Gurunagar, Pasaiyoor, Ariyalai east, southern and western parts of Thenmaradchy, Kokilakandy, Thanagkilappu and Keratheevu, supported the SLN with heavy mortar and artillery fire launched form their positions. The LTTE retaliated from its Sangupitty base.



● Three Karuna Group cadres were killed and eight injured when a fellow cadre, who had recently joined the paramilitary group, lobbed grenades and shot at them. The cadres had been asleep inside the Chenkalady Pillayar temple, close to the SLA Black Bridge camp, when the attack occurred. The cadre who attack had escaped from the area. The three dead were identified as M. Vasu, K. Arunan and M. Mano, while the eight injured were identified as Kajan, 39, Aynkaran, 37, Imayavan ,21, Arunan, 40, Shanthan, 35, Suntharamoorthy, 27, Srithavan, 46, and Kalaiarasan, 16.



● The SLA began firing began firing artillery shells and Multi-Barrel Rockets into LTTE controlled Panichchankerni area from its Mankerny base.



● One man, three teens and two children, collecting vegetables in a field located on Chelvi Theatre Road, Chenkalady, Eravur, were seriously injured when a bomb, concealed in a plot of spinach in the garden, exploded. Kanagasooriyam Rajendran, 40, Sathananthan Maithili, 19, Sathananthan Yaso, 16, Kanthasamy Shanthini, 14, Kanthasamy Shantharoopan, 11 and Kanthasamy Rajkumar, 2 were identified as the injured. Mr Rajendran and the children tend to the vegetable garden, and pick vegetables every morning.




October 25



● Mr. Padmakumara, 27, a Sinhalese, was shot dead by gunmen in the Thekangkaadu area of Vavuniya, but motives for the killing have not yet been established.



● Maheswaran Kaneswaran, 21, was seriously injured when gunmen called him out of his house in Thalankuda, Batticaloa, and shot at him before escaping.



October 24



● Vinasithamby Gunaseelan, 22, a building mason from Pillayar Kovil street in Chunkankerny, Valaichenai, was seriously injured when unidentified persons waiting in ambush opened fire as he was riding his bicycle to work.



● Ms. K. Ariyamany of Pethalai, 30, was caught in the cross fire between two rival groups and was seriously injured at Vinayagapuram, Valaichenai. Such clashes have become frequent with increasing incidents of infiltrations by Karuna paramilitary group cadres, villagers said.



● A SLA soldier was injured when a claymore was triggered along Udupidy-Vathiry road in Vadamaradchi, Jaffna.



● A SLA trooper was killed in a claymore explosion near Athiyady Kovil on Beach Road in Valvettithurai, Jaffna. Soon after, SLA troopers shot dead a youth in the vicinity. The SLA said the youth tried to escape after hurling a grenade at them, killing one of the soldiers, but local witnesses said that youth was walking along Beach Road when the SLA shot at him.



October 23



● A civilian and a police sergeant were seriously injured when a mortar shell exploded near a police sentry point on the Vavunathivu SLA FDL. Sinnathamby Sinnavan, 55, a tractor driver, and Sergeant K. Wickremesinghe, 36, were both admitted to Batticaloa hospital.



● The SLN arrested three Muslim villagers of Puthukudiruppu, Mannar, for allegedly transporting fuel to LTTE held villages. The SLN seized seven barrels containing 210 litres of diesel, two fibreglass boats and a truck from the suspects, Mannar Police said.



● Armed men stopped a lorry, shot dead the driver, Prabath Jayasinghe, 28, of Galle, and injured another man at Poonthodam in Vavuniya. Monday around 10:30 a.m. said Vavuniya police.



● Paramilitary cadres, allegedly of the Karuna Group, set fire to regional Tamil dailies in Batticaloa (see separate story).



● Nadarajah Inthiran, 23, was found lying with gunshot injuries at the Hali Oluwa junction in Seruvila, Serunuwara. He was taken to hospital, where he died.



● Five Tamil youths were abducted from Thiriyai, Trincomalee, by unknown armed persons.

B. D. Wijetunga, 42, the commanding officer, Artillery Division of Kommathurai military camp, was seriously injured during a gunfire exchange with gunmen near the Eastern University campus in Vantharoomoolai, Batticaloa. He was admitted to Batticaloa Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The clash occurred after a convoy of SLA soldiers going on vacation had passed the area, and was targeted at the troops providing protection.