Allaippiddi case: Court denies request for forensic tests on bullets

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 May 2007, 02:08 GMT]
Kayts Magistrate, Jeyaraman Trotsky, disallowed Friday a petition by Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials investigating into the Allaipiddi killings to perform forensic tests and compare the bullets recovered from the bodies of the victims and those of the weapons used by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) troopers involved in the killings, legal sources in Kayts said.

The CID officials requested the Court that bullets obtained from SLN by subjecting their weapons to open fire and conduct forensic examination on these bullets and those recovered from the massacre victims.

The CID claimed that such an examination will shed some light in identifying those involved in the killings on May 13, 2006, when eleven civilians including eight from the same family were murdered, CID officials stated in their request.

The magistrate rejecting the request, pointed out that nearly one year has elapsed from the time of the murders, and many of the naval personnel serving at the Kaarainakar Naval base last year have since been transferred to other locations.

The magistrate also mentioned that the weapons used during last years killing would likely be different to those currently being used, and comparing these bullets will likely fail legal scrutiny and thus will not serve any purpose.

The magistrate, meanwhile, specified if any civilian can identify those involved in the killings, then the bullets from their weapons could be compared with the bullets from victims' bodies and subjected to forensic examination.

Stressing the critical legal need to have an identification parade, Kayts magistrate who adjourned the trial till 25 June, directed the police to arrange for an identification parade of the SLN troopers who served in the area during the Allaippiddi massacre.

On 13 May, unidentified gunmen widely believed to be SLN soldiers, reportedly entered the home of Sellathurai Amalathas in Allaipiddi and opened fire. Eight people were killed on the spot, including a four-month-old baby and four-year-old boy, and one other person died later in hospital.

Allaippiddi is a coastal village in Kayts, one of Jaffna Islets.