'Shot pair smugglers' - SLA

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 January 1999, 20:24 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops at Uyilankulam in Mannar shot dead a person after midnight at 12.30 a.m. today near the entry point to the Vanni that is under the control of the Liberation Tigers, said sources. Another person was critically injured in the firing.

Mannar distrcit judge M.Ilancheliyan visited the spot this morning around 11 a.m. and ordered the Police to hand over the body to the Mannar hospital.

The SLA told the judge that they had observed some movement in the area and, suspecting infiltration by the Tigers, had opened fire.

Mannar court sources said that normally the SLA would say that they only returned fire. This is the first time the army has said that it opened fire on its own they said.

The injured person was identified as Moraes, a person displaced from Jaffna currently living in Thatchinamaruthamadu near Madhu. Moraes was admitted to the Mannar hospital.

The SLA told the judge that the pair were smugglers.

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