STF arrests Tamil woman in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 2009, 18:36 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) commandos arrested Friday morning a 24-year-old woman at her house in Ka’radiyanaa’ru police division in Batticaloa district, claiming that they had been informed that the woman is a former member of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources in Batticaloa said. STF commandos and the paramilitary men operating with them are abducting and arresting young men and women who had been in the LTTE in Paduvaankarai area and now living a normal life, relatives of the abducted persons said.

The young woman arrested Friday is Kanthasamy Bawani, alias Shani, 24.

The STF commandos and the paramilitary men who abduct the young men and women threaten their relatives that the abducted person and they will be killed if they tell anyone of the abduction, the relatives said.

If the people try to lodge complaints about the abductions to their local police they are told by the police to contact the abductors and have the abducted person released and not to bother them, Paduvaankarai residents said.

At least three persons are being abducted a day generally in Batticaloa district, particularly in Paduvaankarai area, they added.