Puthur trader shot dead

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 January 2006, 10:49 GMT]
In the escalating shadow war against traders in Jaffna district, Thambu Nadesu, who runs a business near the Puthur junction on the Jaffna - Point Pedro road was shot dead allegedly by Sri Lanka military intelligence operatives Tuesday around 11.30 p.m. civilian sources said. His body was found inside a banana field near the Amman temple in Siruppitty along the Puthur-Nilavarai road. Nadesu was an active organisor of the civilian protest against an attempted rape of a woman in the area allegedly by Sri Lanka Army soldiers on October 28.

Fifty-years-old Thambu Nadesu, from Saraswathy Lane in Puthur East, was asked to come out of his house for investigatations and was shot outside his house, villagers said.

Nadesu is a close relative of Nirojan Tharmarajah (20) who was shot dead by the SLA in October 2005, when SLA opened fire when people protested against attempted rape of a woman in the area by the SLA soldiers.

Puttur East is located 15 km northeast of Jaffna town.