EPDP cadres arrested

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 December 1999, 10:30 GMT]
Troops of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna arrested four cadres of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) who were pasting campaign posters of President Chandrika Kumaratunga at Nelliyadi last night.

The cadres of the Tamil paramilitary group were held in custody by the local SLA and were released this morning.

The group has pledged its support for Kumaratunga in the presidential elections and has been appointed as her polling agents in Jaffna.

The opposition has charged that the ruling party has drawn up plans for engaging in large scale rigging in Jaffna with the aid of the EPDP.

A senior SLA source in the north told TamilNet the majority of the SLA's rank and file is opposed to the EPDP rigging the polls in Jaffna though the opposition has implied the connivance or acquiescence of a senior military official in the peninsula.