MI attempts assassination of Uthayan editors in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 September 2006, 18:24 GMT]
Two armed Sri Lankan Military Intelligence (MI) operatives in civil dress Sunday midnight entered the Uthayan News paper editorial office in Jaffna allegedly to assassinate any senior members of the editorial team who may be working there, said civil sources in Jaffna.

When alerted by the staff to the presence of unknown men in the office, the police on guard duty at the premises apprehended the two armed MI operatives and let them go after an inquiry, said civil sources.

After receiving a complaint on this incident from Uthayan authorities in Colombo, the Inspector General of Police, Chandrananada Fernando has issued urgent instructions to the Jaffna Police chief to investigate into the incident, said civil sources.

Following the recent killing of two Uthayan staffers by unknown armed men who burst into their offices in Jaffna recently, the Sri Lankan police have provided police protection to the Uthayan news paper office.

The fact that the two MI operatives were able to easily gain access to the newspaper office without any problem while the police were on guard duty, has raised several questions within the journalist community in Jaffna, said Jaffna sources.

Journalist circles in Jaffna suspect that the two armed Military Intelligence operatives entered the editorial office allegedly to assassinate some Senior members of the editorial team.