EPDP to file action against paper

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 1999, 20:39 GMT]
Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) sources said today that they intend to file action against the Sunday edition of the Sinhala daily, Divaina, for its lead story last week that the group was in cahoots with the Liberation Tigers.

The EPDP sources said that some of their members were stopped at a Sri Lanka Army sentry in Jaffna today and were subject to a humiliating search. The soldiers at the sentry were fully aware of who these cadres were the EPDP said.

The suspicion among ordinary soldiers is caused by such reports in the Sinhala press say Tamil groups working directly or covertly with the Sri Lanka Army.

Cadres of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) were attacked twice last month in Vavuniya by Sri Lankan security forces personnel who believed that the group was harbouring the Tigers.

Sri Lankan Police and military intelligence sources say that all the Tamil groups have been greatly infiltrated by the Liberation Tigers.

A senior Police official in Colombo said that they are studying the matter closely. He added that a Sinhala police officer is under investigation currently for links with the Tigers. The alleged connections two government officials in the hill country have had with them has also been uncovered according to him.