2ND LEAD

Saivite priest shot dead in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 October 2006, 10:35 GMT]
Unknown men shot and killed a Saivite priest in Vavuniya Sunday night around 9:30. The victim was one of the organisers of a vigil group against theft and robberies, civil sources in Vavuniya said.

The Saivite priest was identified as Sivapatha Sharma, 40.

Additional Magistrate of Vavuniya, S. Sitampalam, has ordered inquest into the death to be conducted at Vavuniya hospital where the dead body is kept, Vavuniya Police said.

There was no known political or military motives behind the killing, according to the Police.

Saivite, that worships pre-vedic Lord Siva as main deity, is a branch of Hinduism, widespread among Tamils in Tamil Nadu state in South India and in the island of Sri Lanka.