Killing spree escalates in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 April 2007, 16:06 GMT]
Four armed men, conversing in Sinhala and Tamil, entered the house of a former editor of a Tamil magazine in Vavuniya Monday night, shot and killed the father of one. The killers then instructed the victim's 7-year-old son, at gunpoint, to go to sleep, the grieving child told the district magistrate who conducted the inquest into the death of 32-year-old Chandrabose Suthahar, Tuesday. Killings were escalaing as never before on alarming rate in Vavuniya District, Manickavasagar Ilancheliyan, the district magistrate, told media appealing those concerned to act against the killing spree, after hearing the eyewitness boy.

The boy waited till the gunmen left the house Monday night and contacted his mother, who was on travel, from a telephone booth with the help of the neighbours to convey the message of his father's killing by the gunmen.

The killing took place at Thirunavatkulam, 2 km north of Vavuniya town, around 8:30 p.m. Monday.

The victim was the editor of Nilam ("The Ground") a handwritten magazine which was published earlier in Vavuniya.

Magistrate Ilancheliyan appealed to those concerned about the welfare of the general public to raise their voices against the killing spree.

"The situation is grave," he said.

"I have to walk into the hospital mortuary every single day before I start my work these days."

24 civilians have been killed within the past two weeks in Vavuniya.