Paramilitary occupies TELO office in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 September 2006, 12:50 GMT]
Armed gunmen from ENDLF, a paramilitary group working with the Sri Lankan military, forcibly occupied the District office of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party, Friday midnight, the party sources said. Paramilitay cadres chased away the party officials and two families staying in the residence office, said Ranga, the Trincomalee District Organizer of TELO. The TELO leader and TNA parliamentarian Selvam Adaikalanathan, condemning the forcible occupation of TELO office said the party would initiate legal action against the intruders.

ENDLF paramilitary men have threatened the TELO officials, inquired for Ranga several times in the recent past, Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan said.

TELO officials and two of their families have been living in the building complex for more than 14 years, according to the party leadership.

The party has lodged a complaint with the Inspector General of Police and the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), according Vino Noharathalingam, another parliamentarian of the party.

"As a democratic party, represented in the Sri Lankan Parliament, we have the right to run party offices. Nobody can deny our right to run our political offices. Noone would be allowed to forcibly occupy our right to run our political offices," said Selvam Adaikalanathan.

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