TELO harassing civilians in Araippattai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Civilians in the Araippattai (Aryampathi) market, six kilometers south of Batticaloa, were beaten up by cadres of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) this morning after one of their colleagues was shot dead by a lone gun man near a tea boutique around 6.10 a.m.

The Police and the TELO accused the Liberation Tigers for the killing of Viswalingam Singarajah alias Singan who had been in charge of the TELO's tax collections from the Araipattai market.

Anwer, the leader of the Araipattai TELO camp, came to the spot upon hearing the death and beat up vendors and civilians who were at the scene. He then went up to the Thalankudah junction three kilometers further south on the trunk road with an armed group and assaulted people who were going towards the Manmunai ferry.

The TELO in Araipattai works very closely with the STF which has large camp in the area. It has been attacked twice since October by the LTTE.