Fifteen youths abducted in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 October 2006, 15:07 GMT]
Fifteen students of Chenkalady Central College are alleged to have been abducted on Monday at 5.30 pm in Chenkalady in Batticaloa district by armed men traveling in a white van. The parents of one of the missing have lodged complaints with Eravur Police, International Red Cross(ICRC) and Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission(SLMM), Tuesday afternoon, civil society sources said.

The abducted youths include G.C.E Advanced Level students, Kugathasan Thusyanthakumar, 18, and Bawa Pratheepan, 19, both of Chenkalady main road.

According to the parents of Thusyanthakumar, he and some other students were forcibly taken away. Many others in the region have complained that a large number of youths are being abducted while they are involved in sports activities after school.

Hundreds of abductions have been reported in the recent months in Batticaola, Amparai and Trincomalle district in the Eastern province.

Most of the parents or relatives fail to report the abductions due to fear of retribution, sources in the regions say.