Strike over suspected police abduction

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 July 2000, 16:25 GMT]
More than sixty junior employees of the Vavuniya Town Council have began a strike Friday, protesting against the arrest of their college by unidentified men who had arrived in a three-wheeler. They said Shanmukam Krishnamoorthy,21, was abducted by officials of the Counter Subversive Unit (CSU) of the police at Vairavapuliyankulam, around 11.30 a.m. on 19 July.

Krishnamoorthy's relatives have lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Vavuniya.

A senior official at the Vavuniya Town Council said that the police have given permission for the family members to visit Krishnamoorthy, who is being questioned by the CSU.

In a separate incident unidentified armed men blasted a bus, at Ponavarasankulam, 6 km. west of Vavuniya around 9.45 a.m. this morning, after ordering passengers to get off the vehicle, police in the northern town said. This is the second bus, attached to Vavuniya Publized Transport Board to be blasted during the last two days.

Yesterday, unidentified armed men stopped a bus at Koomankulam, about 3 km. west of Vavuniya, around 7 a.m. and destroyed it by exploding a grenade, the police added. No one was injured in the incidents.

Following the incidents all the bus services in Vavuniya and its suburbs have been cancelled said sources. It is not known who was behind the attacks. The police are conducting investigations.