2 Vadamaraadchi fishermen feared killed by SLN

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 August 2007, 18:17 GMT]
Two fishermen who went fishing on Vaththiraayan Sea in Vadamaraadchi east Monday early morning have not returned home until Wednesday 3:00 p.m. The fishermen are feared to have been shot dead by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), according to complaints made by family members to Federation of Vadamaraadchi Fisheries Cooperative Societies, the General Manger, T. Balasingham said. The efforts of fellow fishermen and society members to retrieve the bodies of the missing fishermen made Wednesday morning were unsuccessful, he added.

Sebestian Sristan Lenat, 39, one of the missing fishermen, is a father of 2 children from Naakarkoayil, and the other fisherman is identified as S. Rajkumar, 35, a father of 3 children and a resident of Valveddiththu'rai.

Artillery attacks by SLA on Vadamaraadchi east in the past have forced hundreds of families to flee from their coastal villages, and to seek safer areas in Vanni.

A few fishermen families, however, continue to remain in the villages of Maruthangkea'ni, Vaththiraayan, Uduththu'rai to earn a living, fishing in Vadamaraadchi east seas.

The search for the missing fishermen has been discontinued due to the continued artillery firing by the SLA, Balasingham said.