2ND LEAD (UPDATE)

Robberies by armed gangs escalate in Ampaa’rai, Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 June 2010, 10:41 GMT]
Gangs of armed robbers in Kalmunai and Kalmunaikkudi areas in Ampaa’rai district in the Eastern Province are frequently robbing cash and jewellery from wealthy people during nights while the Special Task Force (STF) Commandos and Police are jointly engaged in road patrol duties in the said areas, sources in Kalmunai said. The complaints made to Kalmunai police by a well-known Muslim doctor who had been robbed of cash and jewellery worth more than 1.5 million rupees were not considered seriously by the police who are yet to arrest any suspects involved in the robbery, the sources added. Meanwhile, armed men robbed two houses in Vaazhaichcheanai last Thursday.

The Muslim doctor who resides in Aliyaar Veethi in Kalmunai police division had been robbed during daytime on Saturday.

A few days ago more than ten shops of Tamil, Muslim traders on Kalmunaikkudi Main Street had been broken into and robbed.

Many houses had been also robbed during May and the owners suspect police support for the robbers who are former members of armed groups trained by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) because even after their complaints Kalmunai police have not arrested any suspects so far, the owners said.

Meanwhile, armed men had robbed several residents of Vaazhaichcheanai at gunpoint in the recent past allegedly led by a member of Vaakarai Divisional Council (Piratheasa Chapai) who had been an active person of a paramilitary group operated by the SLA.

Fifteen suspects in the robberies are now under police custody now.

However, armed men entered two houses at Veppu village in Kumpu'rumoolai of Vaazhaichcheanai police division last Thursday and robbed 25,000 rupees worth of jewellery and cash from S. Nanthavathy and S. Vivekananthan, according to a complaint lodged with the police.

Chronology: