Daytime robberies escalate in Ampaa’rai district

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 July 2010, 04:53 GMT]
Unidentified persons have been robbing in Kalmunai, Chaainthamaruthu and Ma’l'likaikkaadu areas in the last few weeks and no suspects have been arrested though complaints have been lodged with the local police, residents of the above areas said. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress parliamentarian M. H. Harais told Parliament during last month sessions that paramilitary men were operating openly in their vehicles in Ampaa’rai district. He had further accused that the paramilitary men were involved in various criminal activities besides being a danger to the public.
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SLA Civil Admiration Offices in Jaffna to be made permanent

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 July 2010, 06:33 GMT]
SLA 52 Division Commander Brigadier Lal Perera officially opened a civil administration office in Kodikaamam area in Thenmaraadchi on 30 June in addition to the one already functioning in Jaffna town, sources in Jaffna said. The hurried official openings of SLA civil administration offices in Jaffna peninsula are said to be a part of the government scheme to keep the peninsula under the control of SLA, the sources added. Meanwhile, the Secretary of Presidential Action Committee (PAC) has again instructed the government officials in the North to invite local SLA key officials to all government functions, Jaffna Secretariat sources said.
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CDF identity cards withdrawn in Kalmunai

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 July 2010, 04:28 GMT]
Kalmunai police have withdrawn the identity cards issued to members of the Civil Defence Force (CDF) in Kalmunai division in Batticaloa district as it has been discovered that some CDF members had been involved in robberies and other crimes using their identity cards. All CDF members were asked to surrender their IDs before June 30.
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KP-Diaspora programme operated by SL Military Intelligence: Doctor Arudkumar

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 June 2010, 21:31 GMT]
Sri Lankan Director of National Intelligence, Major General Kapila Hendawitharana, the longest serving intelligence officer of the military, is in charge of the covert and overt programme of dividing and conquering the Tamil diaspora, alludes British Tamil doctor Velauthapillai Arudkumar, who visited the island recently as part of a ‘Tamil diaspora visit’ organised by Colombo through Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP. TamilNet releases an exclusive video interview with Dr. Arudkumar taken two days ago, in which he reveals the details of the trip. SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Maj. Gen. Hendawitharana and External Affairs Minister G.L.Peiris, all spoke in a well-synchronised way. Military counterinsurgency and 'post-war development' are intertwined aiming at Tamil subjugation, the doctor infers in his interview.
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Paramilitary link, screening competition behind arson in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 June 2010, 04:49 GMT]
Batticaloa Criminal Investigation Department (CID) police arrested Sunday the owner of Chengkaladi Sellam cinema theatre on suspicion of involvement in setting fire to the screen and stage of Shanthi theatre in Kaaththaankudi police division 17 June night, sources in Batticaloa said. The persons who had set fire had left handbills that warned no theatres in the North and East should screen any South Indian Film for a week. The arrested theatre owner, Kanapathipillai Mohan, a contestant in the last parliamentary election on behalf of the paramilitary-cum-political party led by Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, Chief Minister of Eastern Provincial Council, is said to have frequent conflicts with the owner of Shanthi theatre arising out of the competition in screening South Indian films, the sources added.
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Northern Tamil building contractors forced to pay commission

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 June 2010, 06:26 GMT]
Northern Tamil Contractors Union (NTCU) in Jaffna complains that a man introducing himself as ‘School Engineer’ is engaged in obtaining five to ten percent commission from building contractors in Jaffna to be passed on to Northern Province Governor, Major General G. A. Chandrasiri. Meanwhile, it is alleged that the Governor has instructed the officials of the Northern Province Council to allocate contracts for building construction in the North only to Sinhalese contractors from South. While Basil Rajapaksa, the brother and senior advisor of President Mahinda Rjapaksa, is known as ‘Mr. Ten Percent’ in the matters of contracts, the Governor too is being seen as a person engaged in the same pursuit, NTCU circles said.
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Paramilitary elements set fire to theatre in Kaaththaankudi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 June 2010, 09:32 GMT]
Unidentified persons breaking into Shanthi Theatre in Kaaththaankudi police division in Batticaloa Thursday night set fire to the screen and the stage and left handbills which said that no theatres in the North and East should show any South Indian film for a week according to the complaint made to Kaaththankudi police by Shanthi Theatre owner.
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Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 June 2010, 19:27 GMT]
Vinayagmoorthy Muralitharan, alias Karuna, a former Tiger commander who turned leader of a paramilitary group operated by the Sri Lanka Army in the East and later became a deputy minister in Mahinda Rajapaksa's cabinet visited Jaffna Thursday for the first time after having joined United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government. Muralitharan, accompanied by the Minister of Resettlement Milroy Fernando, was primarily engaged in activities in promoting the resettlement of Muslims in Jaffna peninsula meeting Muslim Welfare Organizations (MFO) and government officials. Meanwhile, civil society circles in Jaffna pointed out that Mr. Muralitharan had been in Jaffna as a key Commander of the Liberation Tigers when the Muslims of the North were forcibly evacuated by the Tigers in 1990.
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Muslim trader shot, killed in Poththuvil

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 June 2010, 12:24 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen who broke into the house of a Muslim trader in Poththuvil in Ampaa’rai district Tuesday around 12:45 a.m opened fire on the trader who was in the bedroom, according to the victim’s wife. The seriously injured victim was rushed to Poththuvil District Hospital by the neighbors where he succumbed to his wounds, hospital sources said. Meanwhile, Ampaa’rai district Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) parliamentarian, M. H. Haris had told media few days ago about the paramilitary groups of politicians who are involved in the recent robberies operating unchecked despite complaints made to police.
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‘Jim Brown Memorial School’ for children opened in the islets of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 June 2010, 17:54 GMT]
The parents of Rev. Fr. Jim Brown who had disappeared without trace in August 2006 after being taken away by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) paramilitary men in Allaippiddi in the islets of Jaffna, recently opened the ‘Jim Brown Memorial School’ built in the premises of St. Peter’s Church in Ma’ndaitheevu, sources in Jaffna said. The school was built by the HUDEC – Caritas Jaffna in remembrance of Rev. Fr. Jim Brown, the parish priest of Ma’ndaitheevu St. Peters Church, who had strived to save the remaining residents of Allaippiddi massacred by Sri Lanka Armed forces in August 2006.
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Paramilitary groups of politicians involved in robberies in Kalmunai

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 June 2010, 16:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) parliamentarian M. H. Haris said that politicians continue to use their paramilitary men in robberies and extortion in Kalmunai in the Eastern Province and that despite complaints to police with the names of the armed men no action has been taken against them. Meanwhile, the Officer-in-Charge of Kalmunai police station, Siran Perera said that the suspects in the robberies in his police jurisdiction manage to get away with the help of influential politicians.
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CID conducts spurious searches in paramilitary operatives’ houses in Vaazhaichcheani

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 June 2010, 09:24 GMT]
Sri Lanka Criminal Investigation Department (CID) searched Tuesday the house of Nagalingam Thiraviyam alias Jeyam, a member of the Eastern Provincial Council and an operative of Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) who had been evicted from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2004 by the then Commander Karuna and present Deputy Minister of Rehabilitation, Vinayagamoorthy Muaralitharan. Similar searches were also made in his other houses in Vaakarai police division and his relatives’ houses in Challiththeevu and Panichchangkea’ni areas, sources in Batticaloa said. The CID, however, has not confiscated any stolen goods or documents related to various criminal activities of Jeyam who possesses wealth and properties exceeding his income, the sources added.
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Robberies by armed gangs escalate in Ampaa’rai, Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 June 2010, 10:41 GMT]
Gangs of armed robbers in Kalmunai and Kalmunaikkudi areas in Ampaa’rai district in the Eastern Province are frequently robbing cash and jewellery from wealthy people during nights while the Special Task Force (STF) Commandos and Police are jointly engaged in road patrol duties in the said areas, sources in Kalmunai said. The complaints made to Kalmunai police by a well-known Muslim doctor who had been robbed of cash and jewellery worth more than 1.5 million rupees were not considered seriously by the police who are yet to arrest any suspects involved in the robbery, the sources added. Meanwhile, armed men robbed two houses in Vaazhaichcheanai last Thursday.
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India wants TNA proposals submitted to Rajapaksa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 June 2010, 06:11 GMT]
Top officials of the Indian government have advised the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to consider submitting its devolution proposals to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa before he leaves to New Delhi on June 7, informed diplomatic sources in Colombo said. The move has come as the Indian Establishment, locked in a corporate race with China, has been pushing Colombo to finalise the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which New Delhi wants signed when Mahinda Rajapaksa visits India. In the meantime, the TNA leadership has invited Tamil parties, except Douglas Devananda, through Tamil channels, to join hands with the alliance before facing the provincial elections in the North. The invitation has also been extended to paramilitary-cum-political outfits aligned with India.
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Jaffna peninsula people gripped in shock, fear as abductions escalate

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 May 2010, 06:16 GMT]
Unidentified men arriving in a van forcibly took away a family woman Tuesday morning as she was returning along Karaveddi Sampanthar shop area after having taken her son to school, sources in Vadamaraadchi said. The abductors had attacked the woman with the intention of killing her and dumped her among the shrubs in a deserted area in Valvai where Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are on patrol. Meanwhile, a teenage girl student had managed to escape from abductors with injuries Tuesday in Point Pedro in Vadamaraadchi while some men had tried to abduct a young woman in front of Jaffna Teaching Hospital as she was coming out of the hospital after treatment, sources in Jaffna said.
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SL Police arrests EPDP operative in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 May 2010, 23:53 GMT]
Sri Lankan Police in Chaavakachcheari Sunday arrested the EPDP coordinator of Thenmaraadchi zone, Alexander Soosaimuththu alias Charles, for allegedly threatening Chavakachcheari Magistrate K. Prabakaran for having issued arrest warrant on EPDP suspects involved in the abduction and murder of student Kapilnath. Mr. Charles would be brought to the courts on Monday, according to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Jaffna Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe, who met local press at Gnanam Hotel Sunday night.
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SLA reimposes road checks in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 April 2010, 04:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Jaffna have reimposed sudden checking of persons and vehicles at the junctions of main roads in Jaffna peninsula which had been suspended prior to President Election, sources in Jaffna said. SLA officials in a report to local media Wednesday claimed that checking is being reintroduced in the context of escalating incidents of abduction for ransom, killings and robberies in the peninsula. Meanwhile, peninsula residents and civil society organizations said that this very criminal violence had taken place unchecked before the suspension of road checks by the SLA and the police. Working according to a hidden scheme SLA has reimposed the road checks as the first step in bringing the entire peninsula under its total grip, they further said.
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Suspects in Navaali abduction to be charged under PTA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 April 2010, 07:59 GMT]
Jaffna police will frame charges against the three suspects who had abducted two family men from Navaali in Jaffna for ransom claiming that they were from the Intelligence Wing of Sri Lanka Army (SLA). The charges are to be made in Mallaakam magistrate court under Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and Emergency Regulations (ER), according to police sources. Preliminary investigations reveal the suspects’ involvement in earlier abductions, killings, robbery and sexual abuse in Jaffna peninsula after the opening of A9 road, the sources said. Meanwhile, the claim that they were of the SLA Intelligence Wing has raised suspicion among the peninsula residents of collaboration of the suspects with SLA Intelligence Unit and the paramilitary groups employed by it.
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TNA MP: Low turnout reflects Tamils losing faith in political system

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 April 2010, 01:34 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesperson Suresh Premachandran has been quoted by The Island as saying that the very low turnout of Tamils in North and East in the 7th parliamentary elections of Sri Lanka signalled that the Tamil voters were losing faith in the political system. The TNA MP from Jaffna further said that the majority of Tamils who participated in the elections had endorsed the TNA manifesto for the resolution of the conflict and speedy re-settlement of the uprooted civilians.
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Douglas Devananda intimidates Yarl Thinakural editor, manager in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 April 2010, 06:50 GMT]
Douglas Devananda, a minister in Mahinda Rajapaksa's cabinet and the leader of the paramilitary-cum-political party Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), has publicly warned the editor of Yarl Thinakural K. Vamathevan and its administrative manager A. Nadarajah for having published front page news on the attack on Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) candidate Ankajan, stating that the reporting has negatively affected election propaganda for his party besides damaging his reputation. Douglas Devananda openly threatened that Vamathevan and Nadarajah will not be able to go for work Friday if they fail to apologize to him at a press meet he held for the local media in Jaffna Srithar Theatre Thursday morning. The open threat by Devananda to the lives of the news editor and the reputed manager of the Jaffna daily has created fear and panic among the media persons in Jaffna peninsula.
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