2ND LEAD

SL Police arrest 6 traders in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 September 2010, 06:32 GMT]
Jaffna Traders Association (JTA) members raised strong protests against Jaffna police for taking law and order into their hands and arresting six traders in Jaffna city. In a meeting held Friday in JTA office, the association accused that the arrest was an act of revenge instigated by Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) administration. Heated arguments ensued in the meeting. Jaffna Mayor Ms. Yogeswary Patkunam of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) who was also present at the meeting assured the Association that acts of this nature will not take place in the future, JTA representatives said.

Police in Jaffna peninsula function arbitrarily without respecting civil authorities a fact that was acknowledged by Jaffna Mayor too, JTA members told media after the meeting.

The police had recently arrested and detained six leading traders in Jaffna town claiming that they had deposited rubbish in front of their shops in Jaffna town.

The traders said rubbish in Jaffna town is left mainly by the tourists from South who come to Jaffna in large numbers and accused the police for turning a blind eye to them.

It is wrong to arrest traders who pay a large sum of money as tax for JMC for keeping the town clean, JTA members said.

Heated arguments took place in the meeting with the JTA members accusing the police and JMC administration for the arrest and detention of the six traders which they alleged as an act of revenge.