Paramilitary detonates explosive laden motorbike with teenager - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 August 2006, 11:01 GMT]
Paramilitary cadres operated by the Sri Lanka Army in Batticaloa district, sent a 19-year-old boy in a motorbike with explosives towards the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Forward Defence Line (FDL) and detonated the bike Thursday around 1:00 p.m., said LTTE's Batticaloa District Political Head P. Daya Mohan.

Denying the SLA claim that five Tigers were killed in a Karuna Group Suicide attack, Mr. Daya Mohan said the bike exploded 80 meters away from the Tiger FDL in Vavunatheevu, 5 km northwest of Batticaloa. The boy was an innocent captive of paramilitary cadres, he added.

The victim was identified as 19-year-old Sathyaseelan Tharsan of Market Road in Thimilathivu.

Arrangments were being made to hand over the dead body of the victim to his parents, Daya Mohan said.

"Sathyaseelan Tharsan was abducted by an armed group few days ago and he was sent to our FDL in a motor bike fitted with a bomb. The bomb in the motor bike was detonated by remote control when Sathyaseelan Tharsan was about to reach the FDL. The bomb exploded about 80 meters away from the FDL", said Mr.Dayamohan.

Mr.Dayamohan totally denied the claim by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that the Tamil youth was a "suicide bomber" entering the FDL of the LTTE in a motor bicycle to blew himself by detonating the bomb with him.

SLA had claimed that five LTTE cadres were killed and two others injured in a suicide attack.

Also last month, two youths were killed when a bomb fitted in an auto rickshaw they were travelling exploded near LTTE FDL in Batticaloa district.