Six killed in shooting incident

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 1999, 11:08 GMT]
A policeman, a soldier and four civilians were killed and six others seriously wounded when two gunmen, suspected to be members of LTTE, opened fire at Thekkankaadu, about one km south of Vavuniya town along the Vavuniya Anuradhapura road, said sources.

The incident took place at around 1.50 p.m. this afternoon within a tight security area where the office of the Detective Inspector General of Police in Vavaniya and the police barracks are situated.

The airstrip for the Vanni SLA headquarters is situated about a kilometer away from the site of the incident as is the office where the military police deal with the issue of permits for those who wish to travel north and west to the Mannar areas.

The gunmen came in a three wheeler from the direction of Anuradhapura and concealed their weapons with a towel and pillow, sources said.

The two wounded in the incident have been transferred to the Anuradhapura hospital, sources said.

Three of the dead have been identified as:

D.M.Disaanayake - soldier.

S.Alahakoon - reserve police constable.

S.Rajkumar - civilian from Koomankulam, Vavuniya.

Among the six wounded, three are Police Constables and three are civilians.

The three police constables have been identified as:

Chandrasiri

Pradeep Ekanyake

Seneviratne

The three civilians have been identified as:

S.Lokku Bandara

Ranjith Pemlaal

Gamage

The civilians are from the Timber Corporation and had come to work at Mankulam. At the time of the incident these civilians had been waiting with the police to obtain permission to travel to Mankulam with the police.

Police sources said that the 3 attackers had come in a three wheeler numbered 201-6472 that was found abandoned at a railway track near the site of the incident.

The security forces have cordoned off the area for a search operation.