Trader, student disappear in Ariyalai

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 March 2007, 11:26 GMT]
A trader and a student accompanying him have disappered in Pungankulam, Ariyalai, inside the Jaffna Municipal area, after being interrogated by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers Sunday noon, according to complaints made at the offices of Jaffna Human Rights Commission, sources said.

The disappeared were identified as trader, Vigneswaran Subaskaran, 39, from Nunavil along A9 highway in Chavakachcheri, and Thavarajah Nitharsan, 18, school student who was helping Subaskaran in his errands.

Both had come to Jaffna town Sunday morning 9:00 a.m to attend to business matters, later visited Subaskaran's mother's house in Ariyalai, and were returning home to Nunavil along A9, when they were stopped by the SLA soldiers near Pungankulam and interrogated for several hours, according to local residents.

Traders in Ariyalai and other witnesses said that around that time a armored Buffel vehicle entered the area and took the two civilians.

Subaskaran was arrested in December 2006 while he was staying with his mother in Ariyalai by the SLA on false charges of possessing a hand grenade. He was released after torture.

Subaskaran had after the incident registered a complaint with the Jaffna HRC on the potential danger to his life from the SLA, sources said.

Chronology: