6TH LEAD

Jaffna tense: Civilian shot dead by SLA, angry mob kills police officer

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 August 2005, 09:14 GMT]
A salon employee, identified as Mr. Jeyaseelan Shantharooban, 24, was shot in his head by Sri Lankan Army soldiers who entered the hairdressing salon located at Innuvil Junction on KKS Road in Jaffna around 1:00 p.m. Thursday, residents said. Another employee Mr. K. Thevathas was injured. Mr. Shantharooban, who was being rushed to Jaffna Hospital, succumbed to gunshot wounds, hospital sources said. Residents angered by the incident blocked the road and were seen throwing stones at SLA vehicles approaching the site. Riot Police were seen firing tear gas at the protesting residents. A Superindent of Police, abducted and attacked by an angry mob, later succumbed to his wounds.



Large number of soldiers and police were deployed at Maruthanamadam junction and other areas in the close proximity of the site.

At least three armed soldiers of the Sri Lankan Army had come to the saloon prior to the shooting incident, residents said.

Suddenly, civilians in the vicinity heard gunshots inside the salon and saw the soldiers fleeing from the saloon to their army camp with weapons, residents said.

Neighbours rushed inside the saloon and found Mr.Santharoopan and his aide lying with bleeding injuries. Immediately they dispatched both to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. But Mr.Santharoopan died on the way to the hospital, residents said.

The incident took place at Innuvil junction located on KKS Road, 4 km from Jaffna town.

Mr. Shantharooban, a resident of Kondavil in Jaffna, is from Trincomalee, according to the residents of the area.

Civilians angered by the killing attacked two army vehicles, which rushed to the site, with stones after the killing.

The sit-in-protest blocking the traffic on KKS road is continuing. Tension prevailed in the area, residents said.

Eyewitnesses told TamilNet that a Police officer, Superindent of Police (SP) Mr. Charles Wijewardene, who was captured by the protestors and held captive, was taken away by an angry mob from the site of the protest.

Later, the Police SP was found lying in a critical condition at Palavodai, between Innuvil and Suthumalai, 2 km west from the protest site, sources said.

The Police SP, between age 55-60, later succumbed to his wounds.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Army officials told local media that two SLA soldiers allegedly involved in the shooting incident were being handed over to the Police for further inquiries.

Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) officials arrived at the site and inspected the place where the civilian was shot by the Sri Lanka Army.