Police smash up PLOTE van

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 June 2000, 17:52 GMT]
Sri Lankan military trained Police smashed up a van belonging to an ex-Tamil militant group and arrested five of its cadres Tuesday night around 9 p.m near Kulumaattu junction, about 2.5 kilometers west of Vavuniya town on the road to Mannar sources said. An altercation had led to a shoot out when cadres of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) who went in a van towards Kulumattu junction were stopped by the Police for checking.

The armed PLOTE cadres had opened fire as the Police had insisted on searching the van in which they were traveling.

The Police had then retaliated by smashing up the PLOTE van and arresting five cadres.

PLOTE sources in Vavuniya said that the leadership of the organisation is holding discussions with the army to get it cadres released.