Two hunters shot dead by SLAF

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 December 2000, 23:15 GMT]
Pampaimadhu residents, Arulanantham Kamalanathan (29), and Sinnathamby Sivakumar (30) who went hunting in Poovarasankulam, Vavuniya were shot and killed by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) personnel on Monday evening, said sources. SLAF claimed that the men were LTTE members and that they had recovered two grenades and a pistol from the dead men.

The SLAF handed over their bodies through the police to Vavuniya hospital on Tuesday.

According to statements given by their wives, Thanaluxmi Kamalanathan (27) and Thavarani Sivakumar (29) who testified during the inquest held Wednesday, Kamalanathan and Sivakumar went for hunting on 11 December around 10 a.m. and had not returned home till 6 p.m.

They said they went to Sri Lanka Army camps at Pampaimadhu and Poovarasankulam to find out if their husbands had been arrested.

"On Tuesday we were told that two bodies were lying at the Vavuniya hospital and we identified the bodies at the hospital," the women told during the inquest.

Flight Lieutenant.A.D.R.Liyanaratchi, another witness at the inquest, said SLAF personnel went on a search operation around 2.35 p.m. At about 4 p.m. the troops heard an explosion and had opened fire. The bodies were recovered along with two grenades, during the subsequent search operation, he said.

District Medical Officer, Mrs.Bavani Pasupathirajah who conducted post-mortem said that one had a gunshot wound in his chest and the other in the head.

The judge ordered the police to conduct further investigations and told hospital authorities to hand over the bodies to their wives.