The death of Dr Arutpragasam led to panic among other doctors in the district. Twenty Sinhalese doctors and two doctors from Maldive Islands, returned to Colombo fearing for their safety. The doctors returned to duty on 15 December after Health minister WDJ Senaviratne agreed to pay for life insurance and additional incentive bonus to doctors in the conflict zones. Following the incident, the Batticaloa Human Rights Centre has urged the security forces not to travel with civilians on public transport.
Attacks continued despite an agreement on cessation of hostilities in early December during UNICEF’s polio prevention programme and Tigers’ unilateral ceasefire later in the month. K Alagaratnam, 76, and V Sritharan, 46, were shot dead near a checkpoint in Kaluvanchikudy on 2 December. The police allege that they died in a Tiger attack, but Batticaloa MP P Selvarajah says they were killed by the police after a policeman was wounded by the LTTE.
In mid-December, the LTTE asked people in the east to move away from military camps. The Tigers shelled Usan Etram Army camp near Valaichenai on 15 December, killing a soldier. A naval officer died in attacks on Sathurukondan military base, four days later.
In Amparai, the Tigers fired mortar shells on a police Special Task Force (STF) camp on Badulla road on 12 December. A policeman was wounded. At dawn on 21 December, the LTTE launched simultaneous assaults on Nugelande STF camp and a police post killing a Home Guard. The military say seven Tigers were killed.
A team from the police Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) arrested three people in the east on 20 December, including Kalmunai teacher D Sathiyamurthy, and took them to Colombo. Relatives say no reasons were given for the arrests and have informed the Human Rights Commission (HRC). Between January and November, the HRC received complaints on the arrest of 207 young Tamils in Amparai District. Eleven have disappeared. In Batticaloa and Amparai districts, 418 youths were in detention in December.
In Trincomalee District, the LTTE attacked a police station in Thoppur, five miles south-east of Muthur, on 5 December, injuring three policemen. The Tigers also blasted Thoppur bridge to prevent reinforcements from Palathoppu Army camp further south-west. A naval base near Kuchchaveli, 20 miles north-west of Trincomalee town, came under attack on 21 December. Six Navy personnel were killed in the assault.