Policemen killed, UNPer assaulted in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 November 2001, 10:06 GMT]
A military trained policeman was shot dead by gunmen suspected to be Liberation Tigers Tuesday morning around 10.30 at a checkpoint on the main road in Vammiyadi, 14 kilometres north of Batticaloa. Police at the checkpoint retaliated by firing at random in the area, killing a civilian who was identified as Subramaniam, 40. Meanwhile, Mr. Arasatnam Sasitharan, a UNP candidate for Batticaloa, was admitted to hospital after he was assaulted by a ruling party candidate and his armed bodyguards in the morning around 1.30 a.m.

Mr. Sasitharan alleged that Mr. Rajan Mylvaganam, a People’s Alliance candidate for Batticaloa had assaulted his wife as well. He said that Mr. Mylvaganam’s bodyguards had threatened him at gunpoint. He said that he called the Police for help but they had told him to lodge a complaint in the morning about the incident.

Mr. Sasitharan lives in Batticaloa town. The army and Police enforce an unofficial curfew in the town after 11 p.m.