Policeman wounded in Trinco

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 July 2000, 21:30 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and wounded a police officer near the Post Office Junction in the Trincomalee town around 5 p.m. Tuesday, security sources said. Sergeant Bandara of the Special Unit has been warded at the Intensive Care Unit in Trincomalee hospital, hospital sources said.

Armed men in an auto-rikshaw opened fire at the police officer while he was cycling and escaped, the sources said.

Sri Lanka Army soldiers and police blocked all main roads in the Trincomalee town and searched the area. The police claimed late Tuesday evening that they have shot dead a LTTE member who had fired at the police officer. Tension prevailed in the town residents said.

Meanwhile Voice of Tigers radio said this evening that four Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed when the Liberation Tigers attacked the Vilgam Vihare SLA detachment Monday night.

The LTTE commando unit which attacked the camp, destroyed several military vehicles and blasted the buildings in the camp before withdrawing, the radio said.

According to the radio, the Tigers recovered among the other weapons, one 60mm mortar, one Racket Propelled Grenade (RPG) launcher, nine mortar shells, thirteen assault riffles, five M-75 type bombs, five K-40 type bombs, several hundreds medium range rounds and communication equipment.