STF commandos fire on demonstration

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 May 2002, 19:45 GMT]
A 12 year old student was injured Wednesday when commandos of the Special Task Force opened fire on a large public demonstration in Thirukkovil, 78 kilometers south of Batticaloa. The protest was sparked off when the STF assaulted a member of the Liberation Tigers who was arrested by the commandos in the general area of Kanjikudichcha Aaru Wednesday morning. The spokes person for the Tigers in Batticaloa, Mr. K. Thurai, charged that the STF made the arrest in the interior dominated by them. "We see this as a deliberate provocation aimed at undermining the peace process," he added.

Tamil National Alliance MP for Ampara, Mr. Ariyanayagam Chandranehru, said that more than a thousand people from the villages of Thirukkovil and Thambiluvil had gathered in front of the camp around 2 p.m. to protest against the arrest and assault when STF commandos who came out of the camp opened fire indiscriminately on the crowds.

The wounded boy was identified as Master Ranjan Mano, a grade seven student at the Methodist Mission School in Thirukkovil.