Jaffna EPDP vehicle damaged in clash

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 March 2004, 18:03 GMT]
A vehicle belonging to the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) was badly damaged during a clash between a group of Jaffna university students and activists of the EPDP. The clash is alleged to have erupted when a group of EPDP activists assembled to create trouble in front of the residence of Ms Pathmini Sithamparanathan, a Tamil National Alliance candidate, Jaffna Police said Wednesday night.

The Jaffna University Students Forum (JSUF) in a statement issued Wednesday night blamed the EPDP and said that one of the EPDP candidates contesting in the Jaffna district Mr. Manipallavarajan was driving the vehicle directly towards a member of the student forum to deliberately injure him, sources said.

However the EPDP Jaffna office said a group of Jaffna university students has damaged its propaganda vehicle.

A group of EPDP activists with police and army security made allegation against the TNA candidates and the LTTE using loudhailers fixed in the vehicle in the area encompassing Kantharmadam and Palam Veethi in Jaffna town.

Ms Sithamparanathan later said to have told the EPDP activists not to engage in such meaningless criticism. However the EPDP activists had threatened Ms. Sithamparanathan.

On receipt of information that situation was getting out of control, a group of university students rushed to the site and ordered the EPDP activists to withdraw from the scene. At that time an EPDP vehicle, which drove at high speed into the student group sustained damages, sources said.

Later the EPDP activists had withdrawn from the scene escorted by Police and army, civil sources said.

However, the Jaffna University Students Forum claimed in the statement that members of the forum had chased away the EPDP activists upto their headquarters located in the Sridhar Theatre, sources said.

Following this incident it was reported that a group of university students who had gone to hold election campaign in islets were prevented by the Sri Lanka navy personnel manning the Allaipitty from entering the Kayts area at the instigation of EPDP, JUSF said in its statement.

Jaffna Technical Students Union and several civil organizations have issued statements condemning the action by the Sri Lanka Navy, sources said.