Key Karuna Group commander wounded

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 April 2004, 13:48 GMT]
A key commander of the Karuna Group was seriously wounded when troops of the Liberation Tigers advanced on Vakarai, 62 kilometres north of Batticaloa, in the early hours of Friday morning. ‘Barathithaasan’, commander of the Karuna Group’s Vinothan Unit, wounded in the abdomen, was admitted to the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital. “We will face problems if casualties rise in the coming days because most of our consultants and many medical officers and interns from the north have left”, said a doctor who works there. The Karuna Group forced Tamils of Jaffna to leave Batticaloa last month.
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LTTE infantry formations advance on Vakarai

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 April 2004, 04:29 GMT]
Infantry formations of the Liberation Tigers crossed the Verugal River, about 78 kilometres north of Batticaloa, in the early hours of the morning Friday and advanced towards Vakarai, residents from the area who arrived in Valaichenai said. The infantry formations of the LTTE were spearheaded by crack commando units of the LTTE and were backed by heavy artillery fire. Karuna Group commander for the Vakarai region, ‘Jeyam’ was wounded. LTTE infantry and mortar units are consolidating their position in Paalchenai, about 6 kilometres north of Vakarai, according to residents of the area.
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NPC condemns election violence and expulsion of people in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 April 2004, 15:03 GMT]
In a press release Thursday, the National Peace Council has condemned the election-related violence, intimidations and assassinations in the North-East, and the “effort to expel people of Jaffna-origin living in Batticaloa,” saying that “factional rivalries should not be solved at the expense of the people.”
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Batticaloa doctors protest against Karuna Group

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 April 2004, 12:21 GMT]
Doctors at the Batticaloa teaching hospital protested Thursday against the Karuna Group for forcing Jaffna Tamils to leave the troubled eastern district. Eleven doctors from Jaffna, including six consultants who were working in the Batticaloa teaching hospital, left the district in the early hours of Thursday with Police escort. Hundreds of Jaffna Tamils fled the eastern town after armed cadres of the Karuna Group threatened and ordered them to leave Batticaloa on Tuesday night.


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LTTE requests Jaffna Tamils not to leave Batticaloa, Amparai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 March 2004, 16:29 GMT]
The political secretariat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Wednesday issued a statement appealing to the people who have been living in the districts of Batticaloa and Amparai for generations not to leave their habitats succumbing to the threats and the pressure directly issued by the Karuna group or in the name of any other organizations.
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Religious dignitaries appeal for calm in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 March 2004, 14:49 GMT]
Religious dignitaries of all faiths in the Batticaloa district Wednesday made an urgent appeal to parties concerned to take immediate steps to promote peaceful environment instead of taking revenge, civil sources said.
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Businesses close as Jaffna Tamils leave Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 March 2004, 11:01 GMT]
Businesses belonging to Tamils from Jaffna remain closed in Batticaloa, Chenkalady, Kaluwanchikudi, Pandiriuppu and Kalmunai areas as the owners left the area on the orders of renegade commander Karuna said sources in Batticaloa.
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Karuna cadres arrested with weapons in Batticaloa town

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 March 2004, 10:30 GMT]
The Batticaloa Magistrate Mr.A.J.M.Ajmeer Wednesday ordered remand till April 14 for four persons who are said to be cadres of Mr. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (Karuna), renegade commander of the LTTE when they were produced in court on a report that they were taken into custody for possession of dangerous weapons, legal sources said.
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Karuna Group orders Jaffna Tamils to leave Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 2004, 17:23 GMT]
Tension and fear gripped Batticaloa town Tuesday evening as Karuna Group cadres ordered thousands of civilians and businessmen of Jaffna who are resident in Batticaloa to leave the eastern district immediately.
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Tigers condemn TNA candidate’s killing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 2004, 07:27 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Tuesday said they strongly condemn the killing of Mr. Rajan Sathiyamoorthy, Tamil National Alliance candidate for Batticaloa. “The people of Batticaloa should not to be perturbed by such incidents of violence in the district that create fear. We call on them to vote for the TNA and show the world the national strength of the Tamil people”, the LTTE said in statement issued in Tamil from their political headquarters in Kilinochchi Tuesday. Mr. Sathiyamoorthy was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at his residence Tuesday morning.


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Pro-Karuna TNA candidate shot

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 2004, 02:40 GMT]
Batticaloa Tamil National Alliance candidate, Mr. Rajan Sathiyamoorthy, a close confidante of renegade LTTE commander Mr. V. Muraleetharan, was shot by unidentified gunmen at his residence in the eastern town Tuesday morning. The injured candidate was rushed to Batticaloa hospital, Police said. The Hospital director said that Mr.Sathiyamoorthy succumbed to his wounds after he was admitted to the hospital.
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Jaffna University confers degrees on Tamil artistes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 2004, 00:46 GMT]
The Jaffna University created history last weekend by conferring Honorary Doctorates of Philosophy posthumously on two world-renowned artistes, Nathaswaram Vidwan Mr. N.K.Pathmanathan of Alaveddy and Dramatist Nadikamani V. V.Vairamuthu of Kankesanthurai. The Chancellor Professor M.Sivasooriya conferred the titles on them at the twenty-third convocation of the university held Saturday at the Kailasapathy Auditorium.


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Shadow Internet edition of Tamil Alai launched

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 March 2004, 15:38 GMT]
A shadow edition of Tamil Alai, a newspaper controlled by the renegade Karuna group in Kokkadichcholai in Batticaloa, appeared on the internet on Monday with the name “Thamil Alai,” competing with the Karuna group’s internet edition and signaling growing disenchantment in the East with the renegade group, sources said.
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Posters, leaflets against Karuna Group in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 March 2004, 15:33 GMT]
Posters criticising the Karuna Group appeared in many parts of Batticaloa Monday. Several leaflets urging people in the troubled eastern district not to provide any form of assistance to the group led by renegade LTTE commander, Mr. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, were also distributed in Batticaloa town and its outskirts Sunday night.
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Karuna Group threatens Pararajasingham's campaign

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 March 2004, 10:19 GMT]
The Karuna Group threatened the chief candidate of the Tamil National Alliance in Batticaloa, Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, to stop his campaign in the district immediately, sources close to the veteran eastern politician said Friday.
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LTTE explains renegade’s revolt to Eastern cadres

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 March 2004, 17:33 GMT]
In a statement issued Thursday, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has explained to its cadres and divisional heads in the Batticaloa-Amparai district about the ‘offenses’ of Mr. Vinayagomoorthy Muraleetharan, also known as Karuna, who was the LTTE’s commander for the district.
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Presidential Millennium Scholarships awarded to NE students

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 March 2004, 13:53 GMT]
"We are for peace .We are definitely against war. Some politicians have been agitating for a war to meet their own ends. President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge has been committed to bring permanent peace to the country," said Mr. Maithripala Sirisena, General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and a leader of the newly formed United Peoples' Freedom Alliance (UPFA) addressing an event held Wednesday morning at Trincomalee St Mary's Girls College auditorium in connection with the presentation of Presidential Millennium Scholarship awards to students in the northeast province.
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Kaluwanchikudy residents condemn Karuna group

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 March 2004, 14:24 GMT]
The people of Kaluthavalai-Kaluwanchikudy in the Batticaloa district have shredded the leaflets issued by the Karuna group, and the Tamil Alai newspaper controlled by the group in Kokkadicholai, condemning the group for warning the people of Batticaloa-Amparai against having any contacts with the Tamil national leadership based in the Vanni, sources in Battticaloa said.
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TNA supporters injured in Digamadulla

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 March 2004, 12:45 GMT]
Four supporters of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) candidates, A. ChandraNehru and K.Pathmanathan who are competing in Digamadulla (Amparai) district, were injured in an altercation Saturday night around 11pm near Thambilulvil Kalaimahal Vidiyalayam, sources said.
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"Historic obligation to show force of Unity" - Raviraj

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 March 2004, 00:12 GMT]
"Several public civil society organizations have joined us in carrying out door-to-door campaigns. We are telling Jaffna voters that a historical burden is placed on the Tamil society to demonstrate a force of unity in the forthcoming elections," said Mr.Nadarajah Raviraj, former Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, speaking to the Canadian Tamil Radio (CTR) Saturday.
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