Tamils in Mannaar confront SL Navy 'grease devil' at Peasaalai

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 August 2011, 12:34 GMT]
Tamil civilians of Peasaalai, 15 km northwest of Mannaar city, Sunday evening confronted an alleged 'grease devil' attacker around 7:30 p.m. When the attacker was chased by the civilians, the suspect ran into the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) camp at Peasaalai. The villagers who rang the bells of the churches and temples in the area gathered outside the Sri Lanka Navy camp demanding the SLN to handover the suspect to the police and file a case against him. The protesters wanted the process be transparent and demanded to carry on the process in their presence. Violent reactions ensued as the SLN personnel at the camp refused to handover the suspect and chose to opened fire confronting the protesters.

A tense situation prevailed till 7:30 p.m. when Mannaar Bishop Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph came to the spot and urged the residents to peacefully gather outside the Lady of Our Victory Church. However, the SLN and Police assaulted the civilians in front of Mannar Bishop, sources in Peasalai told TamilNet Monday.

Several civilians were wounded in the assault by the SLN and the SL Police.

Normalcy remains disrupted in Peasaalai and the fishermen did not go to the seas on Monday.

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