Paramilitary operative killed in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 May 2003, 09:43 GMT]
A member of Razeek Group, a paramilitary operating with the Sri Lanka army in Batticaloa was shot and mortally wounded by unidentified an unidentified gunman in a suburb of the eastern town Monday around 1 p.m. Police sources said. The Razeek Group operative was at a hairdresser’s saloon in Puthur, a high security zone suburb of Batticaloa when he was shot at, according to them.

The Razeek Group operative, identified as Kathirkamathamby Navasooriyam, 30, alias Soori, was employed as a sergeant in the ninth battalion of the Sri Lanka army’s National Guard (9 SLNG), a territorial unit comprising largely of paramilitary operatives, ex-Muslim home guards and dropouts from regular military regiments.

Police said that ‘Soori’ died while being rushed to the Batticaloa hospital.

The Razeek Group was one of the most effective paramilitaries that were involved in counter insurgency operation against the Liberation Tigers by SLA Special Forces in Sri Lanka’s east coast.

The group began steadily losing its counter insurgency role since its feared leader, 'Razeek,' (Muthtulingam Ganeshakumar) was killed in a suicide attack in May 1999.

The Group’s numbers dwindled rapidly due to the actions of ‘moles’ infiltrated by LTTE and by desertions that the SLA says were caused by the Tigers coaxing or bribing key operatives of the paramilitary into returning to normal life.

The few who remained were co-opted into the SLNG on recommendation by the Sri Lanka army military intelligence.