Disappearance in Mannar

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 July 2000, 06:20 GMT]
Arumugam Ramanathan (30) from the Thotavelli village in Mannar, who went to Mannar town to repair his water pump on the 1st of July, has not returned home, said his mother Arumugam Valliammai in a complaint filed with the Citizen's Committee in Mannar.

Visits to the army camps in Mannar and to the Counter Subversive Unit of the Police by the members of the Citizens Committee did not provide any information on the whereabouts of Ramanathan.

Relatives fear that Ramanathan may have been arrested by the Security Forces, source said.

Meanwhile, Gnanasekaram Amalathas (19) of Pichchukulum in Murungan was arrested by the Police on 29 June in the premises of Murungan Hospital while he was helping a neighbor who was a patient at the Hospital.

Hospital sources said that a policeman who was warded in the Hospital took to his heels shouting "Tiger, Tiger," and that about ten Police Constables from Murungan Police Station who responded, cordoned off the hospital and arrested Amalathas.

After Amalathas was questioned at the Murungan Police Station, he was taken to the Counter Subversive Unit where he is currently being held.

Relatives of Amalathas have made a complaint with the Mannar Citizen's Committee and are alarmed at the way he was arrested from the Hospital premises.