Priest held over Nelliyadi shooting

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 September 2000, 19:19 GMT]
A Tamil temple priest was arrested by the Sri Lanka army in connection with an attack on three soldiers at Mooththa Vinayakar Koilady on the Jaffna-Pt.Pedro road near Nelliyadi Saturday morning. A soldier was killed and two were injured when an unidentified gunman shot them as he was stopped at the Mooththa Vinayakar Koilady road check point yesterday.

SLA sources said that the gunman had come with the priest on his (the priest's) motorbike.

Relatives of the arrested priest said that he was on his way to the Selvachannithi temple when a person had stopped him and asked for a lift. They said that the priest had no idea that the person had a hand gun until he pulled it out on the soldiers at the Mooththa Vinayakar Koilady check point.

SLA sources said that the priest would be released once inquiries as to whether he had any real links with the gunman, suspected to be a member of the Liberation Tigers, are over.