3RD LEAD (Adds details, photos)

Three women members of Maaveerar family shot dead in Manipay

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 January 2006, 02:33 GMT]
Two young sisters, Bojan Renuka, 30, and Bojan Shanuka, 23, and their mother Bojan Arthanageswary, 51, residents of a house in Mudaliyar Kanagasabai Road in Manipay, close to the Manipay Hindu College, Jaffna district, were shot dead Sunday night at 11.45 p.m. by gunmen, suspected to be Sri Lanka Army (SLA) intelligence operatives and members of Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) paramilitary, who entered the house and sprayed bullets at the residents, sources said. The father, Nagendran Bojan, 55, and brother Bojan Ullasan, 26, sustained gunshot injuries and are receiving treatment at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, medical sources said.

The gunmen shot the victims as they were coming down the stairs from upper floor of a two-storeyed house, sources said.

The bodies of the three women have been taken to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital for postmortem examinations, medical sources said.

Bojans is a maaveerar family and Renuka acted as the main character in a Tamil film "Amma Nalama?" (Mother, are you well?) produced by the Liberation Tigers' film division Nitharsanam.

Mr Bojan Nagendram worked as the Director of Jaffna St John's Ambulance brigade, and is also the Kankesanthurai district co-ordinator of Boys Scouts, residents of Manipay said. Mrs Bojan is the assistant Director of St John's Ambulance Brigade. Ullansan teaches Mathematics at Jaffna Central College. Renuka, a graduate, is an English teacher at the Suthumalai Chinmaya Vidyasalai and her registration for marriage took place 15 December. Shanuka is a first year Arts undergraduate at the Jaffna Campus.

The family was displaced from Kollan Kalladdi in Valigamam North and were residing in Manipay.

Manipay is located 10 km north of Jaffna town.