2nd lead

Soldiers scuttled boats, allege Munai fishermen

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 October 2003, 03:01 GMT]
Fishermen in Munai alleged Thursday that Sri Lanka army troops in the area had scuttled five boats and cut the moorings of another two in retaliation to Wednesday’s incidents in this coastal village on the outskirts of Pt. Pedro town in Jaffna. Latest reports said that SLA has prevented injured persons from being taken to hospital.

One of the scuttled boats belongs to Mr. Peter Maran, who the SLA claims had assaulted a sentry on the Munai micro-breakwater Wednesday, triggering tensions in the area between residents and troops Wednesday afternoon.

The boat and a catamaran, the moorings of which were cut allegedly by soldiers in Munai are reported lost.

Meanwhile, Police have ordered that Mr. Peter Maran and his father to be present at the Pt. Pedro Police Station at 10 a.m. Thursday, secretary of the Federation of Vadamaradchi North Fishermen’s Co-operative Societies, Mr. K. Suriyakumaran told TamilNet.

The SLA is demanding that Police should arrest Mr. Peter Maran for assaulting a soldier on duty, Police sources in Pt. Pedro said.

The meeting between Munai villagers and the SLA at St. Thomas’ Church scheduled for this morning has been cancelled.

Mr. Suriyakumaran said his organisation is going to complain to the ICRC, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and Government Agent about the army assaulting Munai villagers on Wednesday night.