Two shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 June 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Two fishermen, Chellaiah Anantharaja (26) and Thangaraja Pushparaja (21) were shot dead by the Special Task Force (STF) at Periyaneelavani, near Kalmunai, 32 km south of Batticaloa last Tuesday around 10:00 a.m, said human rights sources.

The men had gone to the beach to ply their trade, when they were arrested by the STF, tied up and assaulted severely for two hours.

The two were accused of being members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and then shot. The bodies were handed over to the Kalmunai Hospital by the STF, the sources said further.

The family of Pushparaja did not take away the body for burial, fearing that its members would be branded as LTTE supporters and subjected to further harassment, they added.