Police curfew in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 October 2000, 08:41 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police declared curfew in the Muslim towns of Kattankudy, Eravur and Ottamavadi and in the Batticaloa town Wednesday following clashes between supporters and members of the National Unity Alliance (NUA) and the United National Party.

Police in Batticaloa said that the curfew has been declared to prevent clashes between the NUA and UNP from spreading to other parts of the districts.

The NUA is the election front of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress. Four Tamils including a popular politician residing in the hinterland held by the Liberation Tigers, contested as NUA candidates in the Batticaloa district, helping the party obtain a significant number of Tamil votes and thereby bringing it close to victory.

Supporters of M.L.A.M Hisbullah, the powerful ex-minister of posts, went on a rampage this morning as the results started trickling out in Kattankudy said Police sources. In Ottamavadi, the Muslim town 36 kilometers north of Batticaloa , the Police stopped supporters of the NUA from celebrating the party's victory by lighting fire crackers.