EPDP cadre shot dead in Akkaraipattu

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2003, 08:49 GMT]
An unidentified gunman shot dead a prominent member of the EPDP in Akkaraipattu, 64 kilometres south of Batticaloa, Friday around 11.45 a.m. Sri Lankan Police sources in the southeastern coastal town said. The EPDP cadre, Mr. Marimuthtu Rajalingam, 42, was the chairman of the Aalaiyadivembu Pradheshiya Sabha.

The EPDP is a close ally of President Chandrika Kumaratunga and operates as a paramilitary with the Sri Lanka Navy in the islands of Jaffna.

The lone gunman riding a bicycle had fired on Mr. Rajalingam, as he was leaving his house in Division 7 of Akkaraipattu, Police said.

The EPDP group which filed nominations for contesting the local government elections to the Aalaiyadivembu Pradheshiya Sabha in February 2002 in Akkaraipattu was declared elected to the body as nominations submitted by other parties were rejected as invalid by the Commissioner of Elections.

Colombo, however, postponed the elections on the basis that conditions were not conducive at the time.

Police and commandos of the Special Task Force visited the scene of the killing and are conducting investigations.