3RD LEAD (Correction)

3 Tamil civilians shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 September 2006, 06:55 GMT]
Paramilitary gunmen attached to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) located in Valaichenai fisheries harbour, rounded up Pethalai and Pattiyadichenai in Valaichchenai-Kalkudah police division in Batticaloa district shot and killed three Tamil civilians in the area between 7 and 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

A group of paramilitary cadres who claimed that they were conducting a search operation in the area Sunday evening took three victims to roadside and shot them.

22 year-old Thiayagarajah Senthooran, owner of a hair dressing saloon and a resident of Pattiyadichenai, was brought out of his house located along School Road and shot dead around 7:00 p.m. Sunday. The victim's pregnant wife was attacked by the paramilitary cadres.

In the second incident, 26-year-old Shanmuganathan Nagendran, father of one child, was taken out of his house located along Nagathambiran Kovil Road in Karunkalichcholai and shot dead, sources said.

23-year-old Kandiah Karunakaran, father of one child and a native of Vakaneri and a resident of Peithalai was shot close to his house located along Vishnu Kovil Road. He succumbed to injuries later in the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital, sources said.

The body of Kandiah Karunakaran was lying in the mortuary of the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital and other two were in the Valaichchenai government hospital.

Civilian sources alleged that the killers were EPDP gunmen.

Paramilitary cadres of the EPDP and Karuna group, operate from a camp attached to the Valaichenai fisheries camp of the SLA.