Aggressive search operation in Vakarai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 August 1998, 10:29 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) rattled doors, smashed window panes and broke electric light bulbs fixed outside houses to terrorise the public at Vakarai, 32 km north of Batticaloa, during a cordon and search operation on Friday night between 11:30 p.m. and 1:00 a.m., said sources in Valaichenai.

One of the homes attacked was that of Nimalan Savuntharanayagam, a candidate of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) at the last General Election (1994).

The residents of Valaichenai were asked to open their doors by SLA and were meted out this punishment when they refused to comply, said sources.

At two houses young female residents were forcibly dragged out, but the soldiers retreated when the victims began screaming.

The house of a school teacher, which was also a private tutory, was set on fire by the SLA on the pretext that it was a gathering place for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said sources.