Kinniya division under dusk to dawn curfew

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 November 2003, 13:10 GMT]
A dusk to dawn curfew has been imposed in Kinniya police division in the Trincomalee district Saturday evening to defuse escalating tension caused by the killing of three Muslim farmers in Nadu Ootru Muslim village by unknown persons, Trincomalee police said.

Muslim families living in Kandalady and other Muslim villages are reported to have fled from their residences and sought refuge in Kinniya and other secured areas due to fear following the Friday's killings, civil sources said.

Some local Muslim activists claimed Saturday the LTTE was behind this incident but the LTTE sources had categorically denied it.

The dead farmers have been identified as Nagoor Pitchchai Faleel (58), Abdul Muthalif Subair (50) and Hayathu Mohamed Hussain (58), police said.

A special team appointed by the Trincomalee Police Headquarters has been conducting investigations into the killings of three persons, police said.

Meanwhile the curfew, which has come into force Saturday 6 p.m., is expected to be lifted Sunday morning 6 a.m., police said.