Sporadic clashes in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
One Sri Lankan Policeman was killed south of Batticaloa town in the early hours of the morning today around 1.30 a.m. when the Liberation Tigers who came by boat fired on a sentry point by the Batticaloa lagoon.

Police sources said that the sentry on the lagoon shore in Manjanthoduvai, about five kilometers south of Batticaloa, had observed six boats approaching from the Paduvankarai side which is under the LTTE's control and had opened fire.

The persons in the boat according to the Police in Batticaloa returned fire killing one Police constable identified as M.T.S Jayaratna, 36.

Meanwhile, another group of Tigers had approached the Kallady bridge, two kilometers south of the town by boat, according to the Police, to attack a transformer in the area.

They also had exchanged fire with the Police sentry at the bridge.

A Police Constable identified as Ananda, 22, was seriously wounded when the LTTE returned fire.