Head Found in Jaffna Drain

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 February 1999, 10:50 GMT]
A decapitated male head was found in a drain near the New Market in central Jaffna. The Sri Lankan army and Police have cordoned off the area, said sources.

A decapitated male head was found in a drain near the New Market in central Jaffna. The Sri Lankan army and Police have cordoned off the area, said sources.

Several young people have been reported missing during the past few weeks in Jaffna. A human rights worker in the north speculated that the head could belong to one of the disappeared youth.

The recent increase in disappearances could be an attempt to terrorise LTTE sympathisers in Jaffna, said the human rights worker.

The body of another youth who was abducted and killed by paramilitaries working with the army was found in a public place near the Perumal Kovil in Jaffna town recently, said the human rights worker.

Meanwhile a youth, Kanthasamy Sathiyaseelan of Kachcheri-Nallur road, was arrested by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) at its sentry at Mudamaavadi in Thirunelveli yesterday, the youth's parents have informed the Human Rights Commission in Jaffna.

In Chavakachcheri, a 17 year old school boy, Sinnathurai Selvamayooran, of Sarasalai south, has been reported 'missing' since Sunday afternoon (February 21), said human rights sources.

The boy, who is a student at Chavakachcheri Hindu College, was on his way to work at his family's farm in Vempirai, his parents said.

Elsewhere in Jaffna, residents of Thenmaradchi who were on their way to Jaffna were stopped and interrogated by the SLA at a temporary camp at Muthaliyar lane near Stanley College yesterday.

The SLA ordered the civilians to sit on their knees for more than an hour at the camp and checked their National and Army Identity Cards.