SLA forcibly occupies Thenmaradchchi TRO office

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 August 2005, 12:56 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army forcibly opened Thenmaradchchi office building of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) Wednesday midnight. Properties kept inside the office had been damaged by soldiers, Jaffna district TRO office said in a complaint lodged with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Jaffna Thursday, sources said. SLA soldiers are now occupying the TRO building from Thursday afternoon and have prevented TRO employees entering the building, residents of the area said.

Residents of the area said a group of soldiers had entered the TRO building through its roof Wednesday midnight and damaged the building. Soldiers were seen coming out of the building Thursday morning through the front door forcibly opening it, sources said.

TRO Thenmaradchchi office is located in Sangaththanai area, which is about two kilometers off Chavakachcheri town.

A pre-school is also functioning in the TRO office complex, sources said.

However, the Police have rejected the allegation that army soldiers had damaged the TRO office.

The Police further said unidentified persons had ransacked the TRO office Wednesday night and they are now providing security to the building, sources said.