Two Tamil fishermen shot dead in Mannar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 October 2006, 12:36 GMT]
Bodies of two Tamil young fishermen who left Pesalai in Mannar district on Friday afternoon for fishing were found with several gunshot injuries Sunday morning inside their fibre glass fishing boat about 15 km off Pesalai coast. The victims have been identified as 19 year-old Savarian Robinson Koonja and Sahayam Ajith Croos of Ward No: 08 of Pesalai, fisheries sources said.

Both victims left in their fibreglass boat to cast nets in deep sea Friday afternoon around 3 p.m.

People of the village had launched a search operation when the victims failed to return shore in time. Searchers had found the bodies of these youths in their boat, drifting in the sea. More than twenty gunshot injuries were found on each body and the boat had also been heavily damaged due to gunshots, sources said.

Mannar Additional Magistrate Mr.T.J.Pirapaharan inspected the bodies and ordered the Talaimannar Police to hand them over to the Mannar general hospital, sources said.