Senior PLOTE operative shot dead in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 December 2005, 12:36 GMT]
A senior paramilitary PLOTE cadre, Mr. Veerappan Thripupathy, 52, alias Thiruppathy Master, who was shot and seriously wounded by an unidentified gunman, succumbed to his injuries at Vavuniya hospital. Another PLOTE cadre, wounded in his hands, is to be transferred from Vavuniya Hospital to Anuradhapura hospital for security reasons, police said. Sri Lanka Special Task Force (STF) soldiers and police officials rushed to the spot and conducted investigations following the incident that took place at Rambaikulam 1 km southeast from Vavuniya at 5:30 p.m.

The PLOTE operative, who had gone to a nearby tea shop from his camp to have a cup of tea, was shot by a lone gunman, waiting at the tea shop, police said.

Vavuniya Police Officer In-Charge (OIC) Mr. AMC Abeyasinghe Banda is conducting investigations into the incident.