42 civilians gone missing in Wellaave’li – PS president

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 April 2009, 10:09 GMT]
Wellaave’li Predesha Sabah (PS) President V. R. Mahenthiran said in the Batticaloa District Development and Coordinating Meeting, that 42 civilians had gone missing in Wellaave’li police division, held in Batticaloa District Secretariat 30 March, sources in Batticaloa said. Many civilians had gone missing abducted by unidentified armed men in Paduvvankarai area in the past few months and the complaints made by their relatives in the respective police stations have not brought forth any constructive results, he further said.

The residents of Wellaave’li area and Paduvaankarai live in constant fear and anxiety due to the abductions and forced disappearances, Mahenthiran told the attendees of the meeting.

The Eastern Province Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Edwin Gunathilake, responded to the statement that Liberation Tigers may have abducted them or they had joined the Liberation Tigers or had left the country under false names.

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) had occupied the areas that were held by the Liberation Tigers in its 2006 offensive displacing the residents to government controlled areas.

The displaced persons were resettled only after ensuring the security of the areas of resettlement.

When the government and the SLA maintain and proclaim that the East had been completely freed from the Liberation Tigers, the statement of Eastern Province DSP creates concern among the residents, sources in Batticaloa said.