Police stop JVP attempt to build illegal settlement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 March 2005, 16:13 GMT]
Police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Thursday evening stopped the construction of illegal Sinhala settlement and removed building materials brought to the esplanade of the Trincomalee Urban Council by a group of JVP cadres Wednesday night, Police said.

As situation deteriorated in Trincomalee town Thursday afternoon following protests by Tamil youths against Sinhala encroachment, Mr.Neville Wijesinghe, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Eastern Region and Trincomalee Senior Superintendent of Police Mr.Ambanwela rushed to the site with senior officials of the Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka Navy and pressured the Sinhala group to remove building materials from the site, police said.

Security forces started to load the materials in their vehicles, when JVP cadres hesitated to accede to their request. Later some JVP cadres were also seen joining the security forces in removing building materials from the site. All material were removed by Thursday evening, sources said.

The situation in the east port town has returned to normal, civil sources said.

Meanwhile, two grenades exploded in the heart of the town, one in the afternoon and the other in the night around 7 p.m. A vehicle belonging to a JVP member was also set on fire by unidentified persons. No one was arrested, police said.