Sinhala guards assault Tamil cattle-herders in Batticaloa, set fire to huts

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 April 2018, 19:57 GMT]
A group of Sinhala guards of the SL Wildlife Conservation Department, who came in a jeep belonging to the department have set fire to two huts of Tamil cattle herders in Koa'ra'lai-pattu South (Kiraan) division on Friday around 7:00 p.m. The attackers first entered the hut belonging to Tamil farmer Vadivel Somalingam, caught one of the cattle herders there, started to assault him and destroyed their belongings. The guards spoke in Sinhala and were drunk, according to the cattle owners. The attackers also instructed the cattle herders to present themselves at the office of SL Wildlife Department on Saturday.

The latest attack is the fourth violent incident to take place within a short period, cattle owners in the division told TamilNet on Saturday.

The situation is getting worse as the SL Department claiming it as their land has resorted to terrorising the cattle herders, the dairy farmers said.

In the meantime, Sinhala cattle herders encroaching into the area were not being harassed by the guards, the Tamil cattle-herders said.

At the same time, another group of cattle herders were cooking night food in a nearby hut.

As they understood that the attackers were Sinhala guards, they escaped from the site. Then the mob burnt down their hut beating the captured cattle herder asking why they had run away.

The attackers have also stolen valuable items such as helmets, the dairy farmers who own the cattle said.

The dairy farmers said the cattle herders had managed to note down the registration number of the vehicle.

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