Villagers' bodies found

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The bodies of three villagers from Thaandaamalai, 60 km west of Batticaloa and near the Amparai-Batticaloa border, were spotted in the jungles near the village today, but could not be recovered due to the presence of Special Task Force (STF) personnel lying in ambush for the Liberation Tigers, said sources in Batticaloa.

The three men had gone into the jungle on Wednesday to chop firewood, but had not returned. Around the same time the STF had entered the jungle to ambush the LTTE, which moves about the area freely.

The presence of the STF, is also an impediment to the villagers of Thaandaamalai, who lead their cattle to pasture and even cultivate paddy in land by the jungle.

The STF, which is from the Aranthalawa camp has mounted operations in these jungles earlier too, but not on such a large scale, said sources.

Meanwhile, the discovery of the bodies of three persons was reported by the Voice of Tigers (VoT) in tonight's broadcast.

The VoT identified the dead as M. Vijayasingham (38), K Annakesari (38) and V Dharmalingam (40). The bodies could not be recovered due to threats from the military, said VoT.