Batticaloa, Amparai districts mourn Ramanan's death

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 May 2006, 21:21 GMT]
Residents of Amparai and Batticaloa districts mourned the the death of Ramanan, a Senior Commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the East and the Deputy Head of the LTTE Military wing of the Batticaloa district, Monday sources in Batticaloa said.

Shops, schools and other institutions in the LTTE controlled area in Batticalo remained closed and a team of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission inspected Moday around 8.00 a.m. the site where Ramanan was assassinated by the SLA sniper, said sources in Batticaloa.

Black flags are seen flying in LTTE controlled Paduvankarai region consisting of Kokadicholai, Karadiyanaru, Pallukamam, Illupaiyadichchenai andPullumalai, said sources from Paduvankarai.

Tamileelam national flags were flown half-mast Monday in all the LTTE camps in Batticaloa and Amparai where cadres who were close to him spoke highly of his service to Tamil struggle, sources said.

Ramanan's feats as a gifted military leader in the LTTE war against the Indian Army is legendary as his contributions in the battle against the Jeyasikurui offensive of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), LTTE sources said.

The remains of Ramanan is kept at Thenaham in Karadiyanaru Monday, for people to pay their last respects. The final rites of Ramanan is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, sources said.