Araiyampathy mourns native son Lt. Col. Neelan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 April 2004, 04:17 GMT]
The body of the deputy head of intelligence of the Liberation Tigers for the Batticaloa district, Lt. Col. Neelan, who was killed by the fleeing renegade Vinayagamoorthy Muraleetharan (‘Karuna’), was brought to his home village, Araiyampathy, Wednesday, and kept at the Ramakrishna Mission school hall where the public paid its respects in large numbers, sources said.



Commercial establishments in Araiyampathy were closed and white flags were hoisted as a mark of respect for the senior LTTE cadre. Senior LTTE leader Senathi presided over a memorial meeting. Mr. Kuyilinpan of the LTTE, Mr. Nelson, the Amparai district intelligence head, and Mr. Punitha Sundaram, a teacher, also spoke.

The body of Lt. Col. Neelan was taken to the Vanni in the evening on Wednesday. Plans are being made for burial at the Martyrs’ cemetery in Visuvamadu, sources said.

The bodies of the other intelligence cadres murdered by the Karuna group, Major Thamileelan (Sathasivam Thiruketheeswaran of Mahiloor), Captain Maventhan (Thirunavukarasu Puvanenthiran of Kayankerny), Captain Nambi (Tharmalingam Pathmanathan of Kalmunai), and Lt. Varnakeethan (Manikavel Sabanathan) were buried at the Thandiyady Martyrs’ cemetery, sources said.

Mr. Rajmohan, a sympathizer of the LTTE was also murdered by the Karuna group in Kaluwankerny.