Sri Lanka Army, Police smash pavement shops in Mannaar bazaar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 December 2007, 07:31 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army soldiers and policemen who went amok in Mannaar bazaar Sunday morning around 7:00 a.m. smashed around 100 pavement shops, beat the petty shop owners, and arrested at least 80 Tamils and Muslims. The police razzia has taken place following the killing of a Sinhala police constable Saturday night when he went to buy cigarette in the bazaar. Parents and relatives of the persons arrested, most of them petty shop owners and three-wheeler drivers, have gathered at Mannaar police station. Tension prevails in the city and the streets were deserted although shops remained open for Christmas shopping.

The SLA and Police sealed off three mega parking places for three-wheelers in the early hours of Sunday, shutting down the three-wheeler service and arresting most o the auto-drivers.

Police had blamed a "pistol group" of the intelligence wing of the Tigers for the slaying of the police constable Jayasinghe.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army cordoned off and searched Moor Street, Chinnakkadai, Pettah and Uppukku'lam in Mannaar.

Damage caused to the properties of petty shop owners is yet to be estimated.

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