Shut down protest in Chengakaladi against abduction

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 June 2008, 14:32 GMT]
Traders of Chengakaladi area shut down their shops Sunday in protest against the forcible abduction of a fellow trader, Thursday around 3:30 p.m. Armed men of Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) in a white van allegedly carried out the abduction, according to complaint made by his relatives with Ea’raavoor police, Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the Red Cross Society. The shut down followed the distribution of the hand bill issued by the Traders of Chengkaladi calling for the immediate release the fellow trader, sources in Chengkaladi said.

The abducted trader is Thevathas Sureskumar, 35, a family man and a resident of Aa’ndaangku’lam, Chengkaladi in Ea’raavoor police division in Batticaloa district.

Unidentified armed men in a white van had abducted Sureshkumar at gun point when he visited his mother’s home in Chengkaladi on his motor cycle Thursday evening.

Threats to traders in Chengkaladi continue unabated causing concern among the traders, the hand bill pointed out, besides demanding the immediate release of Sureshkumar.

Sureshkumar’s wife had gone to the EPDP office and pleaded for his release but he was not freed, the sources added.

Though relatives of Sureshkumar allege that he was abducted by EPDP men, Pillaiyan group dominate the Chengkaladi area.

A 29-year-old man, K. Prabakaran, from Naakathampiraan Road in Ki'n'naiyadi, Batticaloa, was abducted recently after refusing to hand over his motorbike to a Pillayan group paramilitary operative known as Oviyan.

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