Paramilitary abducts three Christian Priests in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 February 2011, 14:29 GMT]
Three Christian Priests, active in humanitarian work in Batticaloa, have been abducted by paramilitary group led by Pillayan according to complaints filed by the relatives with the Batticaloa police sources in the eastern province said. The priests were asked by Ramesh, a member of Pillayan's group, to attend a meeting with the Eastern province Chief Minister Pillaiyan on February 22, and have not been seen since, the complaint further said.

Pastor Ganeshamoorthy, Sivakumar Yonath, and Sivanandan Lupe have attended the meeting with Pillayan at offices of the Paramilitary group near the old police station in Batticaloa before their disappearance, sources said.

Unconfirmed reports say that the priests have been taken to the notorious 4th floor in Colombo by the intelligence wing of the Sri Lanka military.

The three priests were fully engaged in assisting recent flood victims of all religious affiliations, local residents said.

Batticaloa police has not taken any active interest in making public the whereabouts of the priests, civil society sources said.

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