Trinco to observe day of mourning, hartal

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 July 2005, 18:11 GMT]
Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples Forum (TDTPF) Sunday appealed to Tamil people of the east port town to observe a day of mourning on Monday and a general shut down ('hartal') on Tuesday when the bodies of two LTTE members and two civilians who were gunned down in Chelvanayakapuram are expected to be buried at Alankulam LTTE war cemetery, sources said.

Bodies of the four persons will be kept for viewing by the people of Trincomalee on Monday before being taken to LTTE controlled Muttur east for burial, LTTE sources in Trincomalee said

TDTPF in a statement issued Sunday said Trincomalee town has an eerie air of a garrisoned city with hundreds of government troops are deployed. Amid such security a group of assassins had come in a vehicle and had attacked the LTTE members in Chelvanayakapuram in daylight and returned to their place without being checked by security forces.

It is very clear that the attack had been carried out with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Army, the statement said.

"Anti-peace elements are behind the Chelvanayakapuram attack and the attack has been planned to provoke the LTTE into breaking the ceasefire agreement," TDTPF statement said.

Trincomalee District Tamil Women Forum also issued a statement condemning the Chelvanayakapuram killings, sources said.