AG withdraws eleven PTA cases

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 September 2002, 14:35 GMT]
The Eastern High Court in Trincomalee Tuesday discharged nine accused when the State Counsel withdrew the indictments against them in eleven cases filed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) on the advice of the Attorney General (AG).

In two cases the accused Chitravelu Paramananthan alias Gajan of Uppuveli and Chandraraja Ravikumar of Pudduthkuddiruppu were charged with possessing hand grenades. Ravikumar was also charged for collecting funds for the LTTE.

In one case the accused David Silva Wijekumar of Tampalakamam was charged for possessing a video film depicting LTTE military operations.

In three cases the accused Suntharamoorthy Rajmohan alias Vijith of Kantalai, Samithamby Eswaran of Orrs Hill, Trincomalee and B.Balamohan of Kannagipuram were charged with undergoing arms training from the LTTE.

S.Parameswaran and Kanagaretnam Uthayakumar of Orrs Hill, Trincomalee were charged with aiding and abetting LTTE members. In another case Kandiah Puviraj of Trincomalee was charged for knowingly withholding information about the movements of LTTE in his village.

When the cases were taken up for inquiry, the State Counsel Mr.S.Kannan submitted to court he was withdrawing indictment the above cases on the advice of the Attorney General. The High Court Judge Mr.J.Visvanathan then discharged all the nine accused.