13 civilians remanded for allegedly torching EPDP camp

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 April 2004, 15:50 GMT]
The Kayts Magistrate, Mr.A.Premshankar, Tuesday ordered remand for thirteen suspects who were produced by the police in connection with the alleged burning down of a camp of the paramilitary Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) in Analaitivu following the April 2 general election, legal sources said.
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Nimalarajan murder inquiry report handed over to AG

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 April 2004, 15:31 GMT]
Mr.Ranjith de Silva, Officer-in-charge of the Special Investigation Unit of the Jaffna Police, Tuesday told Jaffna Magistrate Mr. R.T.Viknaraja that he had submitted the dossier of his inquiry into the murder of Jaffna based journalist Mr.Mylvaganam Nimalarajan to the Attorney General, legal sources said.
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EPDP activist remanded in Kayts murder incident

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 April 2004, 19:16 GMT]
The Kayts Magistrate, Mr. A.Premashankar, Saturday remanded Mr. Thirugnanam Sivakumar alias Velu, a key member of the paramilitary Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP), till May 1st, in connection with the murder last year of a young woman, legal sources said Monday.
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TNA censures SL President over ministerial post to EPDP

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 April 2004, 14:55 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance parliamentary group Friday censured the action of Sri Lanka's President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, in appointing a person rejected by the Tamil people in the April 2nd poll in charge of a ministry important to Tamils, disregarding the overwhelming mandate obtained by the TNA for the establishment of the Interim Self Governing Authority in the Northeast, TNA sources said.
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Post election violence continues in Jaffna islets

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 April 2004, 16:15 GMT]
Violence is on the increase in the islets of Jaffna district after the general election held on April 2. Several people were injured in clashes that took place on the Tamil-Sinhala New Year Day (April 13) at Thambatti area in Kayts between members of public and the paramilitary Eelam People's Democratic party (EPDP), police said
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Mystery armed men attack TNA supporters in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 April 2004, 17:56 GMT]
Mystery gangs comprising armed men are allegedly assaulting and intimidating active supporters of the Tamil National Alliance in the Jaffna district, especially in the Vadamarachchi north division, following the victory of the TNA at the last general election, civil sources complained Friday.
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EPDP cadres threaten LTTE political activists in Naranthanai

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 April 2004, 13:44 GMT]
The Jaffna office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Sunday received a complaint that the paramilitary Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) activists at gunpoint had intimidated the political head of the Liberation Tigers in the Islands, Mr.C.Arunthavam, and his associates, sources said.
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Vanni election results released

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 April 2004, 17:56 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance scored 90834 votes in the Vanni electoral district, according to results released by its chief returning officer, Mr. K. Ganesh, Saturday evening. The total number of valid votes polled in the district is 140377. The TNA got five of the six Parliamentary seats of Vanni. The United National Front got the sixth seat by polling 33540 votes.


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TNA scores ninety percent of votes polled in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 April 2004, 07:43 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance got ninety percent of the total votes polled in Jaffna and secured eight of the district’s nine seats, election officials said Saturday. The landslide victory is unprecedented. The total votes polled in the district was 303259, of which 21233 (6.96 percent) were rejected as spoilt. The paramilitary group EPDP managed to get a single seat by polling 18612 votes (6.2 percent). Independent Group No. 1, led by Mr. Veerasingham Anandasangaree was wiped out from the count as it got only 1.82 percent (5156) of the total votes polled in Jaffna.


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TNA leads by massive majorities in Jaffna electorates

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 April 2004, 23:45 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is leading all the electorates of the Jaffna District by vast majorities, elections officials in the north said in the early hours of Saturday morning. In the Udupiddy electorate of Jaffna, for which results were made available, the TNA (contesting as Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi) got 24176 votes. The paramilitary group EPDP polled 874 votes and the Independent Group No. 1 led by Mr. V. Anandasangaree got only 362 votes in the Udupiddy electorate in Jaffna.
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Kilinochchi, Vadamaradchi east voters throng Muhamalai

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 April 2004, 13:56 GMT]
Elections officials in Jaffna said Friday that thousands of voters from Kilinochchi walked a kilometre in scorching sun across the line of control between the areas controlled by the LTTE and the Sri Lanka army in the southern part of peninsula to cast their ballot. Polling was higher than sixty percent in the clustered booths in Sri Lanka army’s clearing zone for commercial vehicles, according to them. People voted with unprecedented enthusiasm in the Sri Lanka military controlled parts of Jaffna.
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High polling in clustered booths for Killinochchi voters

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 April 2004, 11:08 GMT]
High polling was recorded in the clustered polling stations located in the Muhamalai area for voters residing in the LTTE controlled Killinochchi district and villages in the Vadamaradchchi east division in the Jaffna district. Around noon, sixty percent of the voters have voted in the sixty two polling stations, 30 for Killinochchi district voters and 32 for Vadamaradchchi east division voters in the LTTE held areas, election department sources said.
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Nimalarajan murder suspect accused in sexual assault

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 March 2004, 18:18 GMT]
It came to light in the Jaffna Magistrate court Wednesday that the first suspect, in the murder case of Journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, the paramilitary Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) activist Mr. Kandasamy Jegatheeswaran alias Jegan, is the person who had sexually assaulted a schoolgirl on March 26 in Karampon south village while absconding, legal sources said
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Warrant issued for arrest of Nimalarajan murder accused

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 March 2004, 01:04 GMT]
Jaffna Magistrate and Additional District Court Judge R.T.Wignarajah issued an open warrant Thursday for the arrest of Kandasamy Jegatheeswaran, the first accused in Nimalarajan murder case, local Jaffna media reported.
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EPDP supports Kumaratunga, Marxist alliance

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 March 2004, 15:07 GMT]
EPDP, a paramilitary group operating with the Sri Lanka army, said Wednesday in Jaffna that it supports the alliance between President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. Addressing press conference in its heavily fortified camp in Jaffna town, the leader of the group, Mr. Douglas Devananda, defended the JVP, saying that it was not a Sinhala chauvinist party.
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EPDP cadre shot dead in east

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 March 2004, 05:55 GMT]
Unidentified gunman shot dead a cadre of the EPDP, a paramilitary group operating with the Sri Lankan army Monday night in Valaichenai, 32 kilometres north of Batticaloa, Police said. Mr. Ponnaiah Yogendran, 25, was walking towards the EPDP camp in the SLA Valaichenai fisheries harbour garrison around 10 p.m. when he was shot, according to Police sources in the eastern town.
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UNF candidate shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 March 2004, 08:44 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a United National Front (UNF) candidate Monday morning in Batticaloa town. The candidate, Mr. Sinnathamby Sundarampillai, 63, was slightly wounded when unidentified assailants shot at him on Saturday night. Two men visited the candidate who was receiving treatment at the Batticaloa Hospital and shot him at point blank range. Both got away, Police said. Another UNF candidate, Mr. Thambirajah Jeyakumar, was shot dead during the campaign for the general elections in December 2001.


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Sri Lanka army declines to lend a hand to EPDP

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 March 2004, 06:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka army refused to allow the paramilitary EPDP to take a group of refugees inside the Palaly military base to see their homes during the weekend. “We already had a problem in Chavakachcheri where the group claimed that it was responsible for persuading us to vacate a sector of our high security zone there. We want better relations with the public. But we don’t want politics. Our only duty is to defend our country”, a Sri Lanka army officer in Jaffna told TamilNet.
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Call for united vote to TNA in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2004, 00:05 GMT]
The Federation of People’s Organizations (FPO) in Vavuniya, in a statement last week, has asked the public to vote for the policies of the Tamil National Alliance in order to gain maximum parliamentary representation for the Tamil people, to show the international community that the people are behind the TNA’s policies, and ultimately to find a lasting solution to the Tamil national question.
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SLA gives back houses in Chavakachcheri

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2004, 00:51 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army vacated seventy nine houses in two suburbs on the outskirts of Chavakachcheri town in Jaffna this weekend. The military pulled back its forward defense line (FDL) 400 meters to free the houses it has been occupying since 2000. Meanwhile in a move to woo Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) votes in Jaffna for the general elections on 2 April, the EPDP, a paramilitary group operating with the Sri Lankan armed forces in the northeast, Monday claimed responsibility for securing the release of the garrisoned homes in Chavakachcheri’s environs.
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