Father of three shot dead

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 December 2000, 22:03 GMT]
A father of three children Sivanayagam Ilango,29 of Thiruperunthurai in the Batticaloa district was shot dead and two others were injured Sunday night when they were returning home after making a complaint at the nearby Air force checkpoint about a robbery, said sources.

The injured were Thangarajah Chandrakumar (31) and Sinnathanmy Sri Pathmanathan (30).

According to one of the injured civilians, Sinnathamby SriPathmanathan, unidentified armed men had entered his house around 8 p.m. on Sunday and had forcibly taken away a television set and a bicycle. Thereafter he along with the deceased and several others had gone to the Airforce checkpoint nearby and made a complaint regarding the robbery. The air force personnel manning the checkpoint informed them that they would conduct inquiry into the complaint next day.

When they were returning home, some persons fired at them from behind the Thiruperunthurai Murugan Temple. Sivanayagam Ilango fell down on the spot. All were admitted to the hospital.

Residents of the village have alleged that some of the air force personnel had fired at the civilians when they were returning from the sentry point.