Police, SLA harass Aalangku’lam Tamil residents

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 March 2009, 00:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police conducted a cordon and search operation Thursday in Aalangku’lam village in Batticaloa district following the burning down of a Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) bus in Vaazhaichcheanai area by uniformed men Thursday early morning. The Tamil residents were intimidated and subjected to harassment, sources in Vaazhaichcheanai said. Policemen allegedly warned the residents that they will be killed if a similar incident occured again, local residents said.

Meanwhile, soldiers stumbling on articles used by children while playing in a shrub area arrested the owner of the house and interrogated him. Later the soldiers interrogated the children who are in grade five in Batticaloa Aalangku’lam Government Tamil Mixed School (GTMS).

The father of the children was ordered to report at Vaazhaichcheanai police station for further interrogation.

“We have none to help us in this matter. The police and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers have taken the law into their hands. No Muslim person was interrogated though the bus was burnt down near a Muslim Hajiyar’s shop. But Tamils are harassed and threatened to death,” residents of Aalangku’lam said.