Two alleged drug smugglers shot in Mannar

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 August 2004, 17:01 GMT]
Two men suspected to be drug smugglers were shot and wounded in Pesalai on the Mannar island in the early hours of morning Friday, Police said. Two gunmen had shot the alleged smugglers on the beach at Murukankoiladi in Pesalai. In June this year, fisheries societies in Pesalai took away the beaching right of the small settler community in Murukankoiladi, saying that the area was being used for drug smuggling and other nefarious activities.

On Wednesday, the Mannar Government Agent failed to persuade Pesalai fisherfolk to let the Murukankoiladi community use the particular part of the beach.

One of the alleged smugglers was seriously wounded. He was taken to the Anuradhapura hospital. Both men are from ward 7 of Pesalai, Police said.