PLOTE militiaman kills 7 family members

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 December 1998, 08:14 GMT]
An armed cadre of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), a Tamil paramilitary group working with the Sri Lankan Army (SLA), shot seven members of his wife's family, including two children and an infant at Chenkalady, 18 kilometers north of Batticaloa, in the early hours of the morning today over a personal quarrel.

The PLOTE cadre was identified as K.Balasubramaniam alias Balan.

Police sources said that he was sent on sentry duty last night to the Chenkalady main checkpoint and that he had left the point with his assault rifle and had gone to the nearby village of Iyankerni where his wife lived with her family.

He had opened fire into the house killing, Sinnathurai Anthony, 32, his wife Ranjini 28, their children Sinthuja, 10 months, Nisha, 9 and Anushiya, 7.

The berserk PLOTE cadre also shot dead his mother in law Velupillai Kanakammah, 45 and grievously injured Anthony's father Sanjithambi Sinnathurai.

Then had forced his wife Eeswari to run away with him to the nearby jungle area of Thalavai, where he is still reported to be in hiding.

The village officer (G.S) of Iyankerni S. Thirunavukkarasu had gone to the house following the incident in the early hours of the morning and found Sanjithambi and the infant girl alive.

The former had told the GS that Bala had shot everyone.

The infant and Sanjithambi died when they were rushed to the Eravur hospital.

Balasubramaniam had been estranged from his wife Eeswari for some time as he was living with another girl in Chenkalady.

The quarrel had arisen when Eeswari family had gone to the Police to persuade him to register the child his wife had given birth to recently.