In mid-April, the Army allowed people to leave the area. But an NGO-appointed committee said that the military is requiring people to complete a form before leaving, which has to be certified by the local Grama Sevaka (Village Headman). Army officers say that this procedure is necessary to prevent LTTE infiltrators entering Jaffna town and other military-controlled areas.
Jaffna Government Agent K Shanmuganathan says that people in Soranpatru and Dharmapuri in Palai area, which had been declared a high security zone, were denied permission to leave. The Jaffna secretariat said in mid-April that 5,933 people displaced from Palai and Maruthankerni have been housed in 15 welfare centres in Point Pedro, Thenmaratchy and Jaffna town. A large number of displaced people have sought refuge with friends or relatives.
The Army arrested three youths in Irupalai, four miles north-east of Jaffna town on 3 April. The following day, two others including Ravichandran Rajivan, 16, were taken into custody in Kopai, further north. Local people say that no receipts were issued to relatives for the arrests in Kopai, as required by law.
A young woman, Thayaparan Viji, and her child were wounded when the Army in Jaffna shelled LTTE positions in Pooneryn on the mainland. Army shelling on 8 April in Sembianpatru on the east coast killed Sellakandu Thangam, 62, and Velupillai Thavam, 24. Three others were wounded. A shell in Kilali, south-east of Chavakachcheri wounded seven people.