Jewellery shop owner missing after SLA detention

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 June 2006, 08:06 GMT]
Kanesan Sivanesan, 36, the proprietor of a well known Jewellery store in Inuvil disappeared following interrogation by the SLA on 28 May and since has disappeared. Relatives say, an anonymous phone caller informed the family that they were holding Sivanesan and demanded Rs.500, 000 for his release, raising the spectre of SLA complicity in a ransom racket.

Sivanesan was last seen in the Inuvil area on Kankesanthurai Road, detained for questioning by the SL Army. Local residents say Sivanesan has not returned home, since that day.

The family members say they have appealed to Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC), Sri Lanka Police, and the SLA to find out the whereabouts but they have received no response from any of them.

According to sources close to the family, the ransom money of Rs.500, 000 was paid by the family but Sivanesan has not been released.