2nd lead (Add details, corrections)
Eastern university don shot dead
[TamilNet, Monday, 24 May 2004, 12:18 GMT]
Mr. Kumaravel Thambaiah, a senior lecturer in the Eastern University was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at his home in Batticaloa town around 4.30 p.m. Monday. Mr.Thambaiah, 48, the head of the economics department of the Eastern University, is from the village of Aasikulam north of Vavuniya.
The gunmen had entered the lecturer's home in Gnanasooriyam Square in Batticaloa town from the rear and had shot him in the head and chest, Police said. The gunmen got away after killing Mr. Thambaiah. He was a graduate of the Jaffna University. Mr. Thambaiah was evicted from Batticaloa by the renegade LTTE commander Karuna. He returned when the Karuna group withdrew from the Batticaloa region and normalcy returned. Mr. Thambaiah took a special interest in the social, political and economic life of the North-East, and was one of the founding members of the Tamil Renaissance Movement. He worked to create and foster Tamil national consciousness, instilling a sense of pride in being Tamil. According to TamilNet's Batticaloa correspondent, the Eastern University community and the public in Batticaloa have expressed shock and dismay at the killing of the academic.
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