Army volunteer killed in Vadamarachchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2003, 13:27 GMT]
Fifty three year old Selliah Puvanendran, who is believed to be a member of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) volunteer force, was found dead Wednesday in Thunnalai, 3 km south of Point Pedro in Vadamarachchi division, Jaffna district, with hands tied, mouth stuffed with clothes and cut injuries in his neck, security sources said.

The Nelliayadi Police immediately launched an investigation into the death.

Point Pedro Magistrate Mr.A.Premshankar who visited the scene ordered the body of the former SLA volunteer to be handed over to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital Wednesday evening for postmortem examination, medical sources said.

According to preliminary investigations the deceased had worked in the south of the country as a member the SLA volunteer force. Recently he returned to his native place at Kudawathai in Thunnaialai area and had been staying with his mother. His wife is a nurse working in Vavuniya, sources said.

His body was discovered Wednesday morning in a secluded area about four km away from his house at Kudawathai. An authorization card issued by SLA identifying him as a member of the army volunteer was found in his possession. However it has not been confirmed if the deceased was still attached to the SLA at the time of his death, according to police sources.

The Point Pedro Magistrate ordered the Police to conduct further inquiry into the death, legal sources said.