1 killed, three hurt in Chenkalady

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A cadre from the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) was killed and two members of the Peoples' Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and a civilian were wounded in an exchange of fire with the Liberation Tigers at Chenkalady, 16 km north of Batticaloa, around 11 a.m. today, said sources in Valaichenai.

The incident took place at Chenkalady junction where there is a post set up jointly by TELO, PLOTE and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to guard the areas ahead of the Kommathurai SLA camp and to provide security for the PLOTE camp nearby.

A trunk road from the Chenkaladi junction runs to Badulla in the westerly direction.

The SLA controlled area on this road extends for only one kilometer. Beyond this is the region is controlled by LTTE.

The dead TELO cadre was identified as Thangavelu Vijayakumar and the wounded PLOTE members are Vikram and Ruben. The civilian S Kandapody 60, was hit by a stray bullet while he was resting in his house said sources.