SLA 'motorcycle group' arrest Palameenmadu youth

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan soldiers and two hooded informants arrived on motorcycles and took away a youth at Palameenmadu, two km east of Batticaloa town around 6:00 p.m. this evening, said sources in Batticaloa.

Neither the identity of the youth nor where he was taken by the 'motorbike group' is known.

This group of twelve men, was initially engaged in checking the identity of persons at Paalameenmadu and Muhathuvaram in the suburbs of Batticaloa. They were later seen going towards Kallady.

Hooded informers are used by the Sri Lankan military to identify Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) activists and supporters.

Hooded informants are often in attendance as Sri Lankan troops line people up during cordon and search operations or search people at checkpoints. If an LTTE activist or supporter is recognised, the informant will nod his head, and the marked person is arrested. In some cases, summary executions have followed.

Hooded informers are despised by the public. Informants have often used the opportunity - and the anonymity - to settle scores, identifying innocent civilians whom they disliked as LTTE members.

In many cases, informants have pointed out people at purely at random - if informants do not point out anyone for a while, the army becomes suspicious of them too. In some farcical instances, hooded informants have identified others mingling with the crowds as LTTE activists.