Para-military soldier killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 June 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A member of the Razeek Group, a para-military outfit working with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), was killed in a confrontation with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) near the 10th Mile Post on the Vavunatheevu-Aithiymalai Road, 10 km Northwest of Batticaloa, around 7:00 a.m. yesterday, said sources in Batticaloa.

He was identified as Nallathamby Gunasekaram (30).

The leader of the group, Razeek, was a senior member of the EPRLF and led an assassination unit under the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) known as the 'Mandayan' group.

The group operates now in the eastern province under supervision of the local unit of the Sri Lankan Army.

Many cadres of the group are paid soldiers of the Sri Lankan army and others go under the rubric 'National Auxiliary Force of the SLA'.