SL Forest Dept, SL Police continue to harass Tamil dairy farmers in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 May 2018, 14:27 GMT]
The so-called Forest Conservation Department officials of the unitary state of genocidal Sri Lanka and Sinhala speaking officers of the SL Police are continuously harassing the Tamil dairy farmers and their cattle herders in Vavu'natheevu division of Batticaloa district, the residents of Naavat-kaadu village told TamilNet on Sunday. The guards belonging to the SL Forest Department and the Sinhala-speaking policemen do not belong to their administrative division or the district of Batticaloa, they said.

The intruding Sinhala guards and police officers come from Maha Oya division of Ampaa'rai district, the villagers further said.

Further, the SL Policemen arrested a Tamil man, 35-year-old P. Mahendran from Naavat-kaadu village, accusing him of being in possession of an illegal fishing net on 16 May. The arrest took place at Ka'ruvaach-choalai.

However, the entry filed against him by the SL Police was about illicit liquor brewing, the villagers told TamilNet.

Mahendran has been instructed to appear at the Ampaa'rai Magistrate's Court on 24th May.

These are harassments meted out against the villagers to curb their livelihood activities.

The SL Forest Department guards are mainly targeting those who work for Tamil dairy farmers, they said.

Apart from filing false cases and harassing the cattle herders, the Sinhala-speaking guards and the policemen are also robbing their properties during their interventions that often take place during the evening and night time, the villagers further complained.

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