Shadow of death

SHADOWY death squads roam Vavuniya and fear grips the northern border town. Reports say 35 mysterious murders in and around the town since 1994 remain unsolved. P Puvanendran was shot dead at his home in Poonthottam on 3 January and six days later ICRC’s Vavuniya office security guard G Ravindran was murdered. Observers believe that the death squads are linked to security forces. Tamil party EPRLF has called on the government to investigate the killings. Police say LTTE’ Pistol Group has infiltrated Vavuniya and is targeting security forces and informers. Soldier Priyantha Thilakaratne was killed by a gunman on 7 January near Sinthamanipillayar temple. Police Sub-Inspector S Pathmakumara was shot dead five days later on Horowupotana road. In a house-to-house search following the killings, police rounded-up over 1,000 people between the ages of 15 and 45 and interrogated them in a school. Two days later 350 youths with one-day permits to enter Vavuniya were detained. It is said that Pistol Group members arrested or killed all had permits in their possession.

There was chaos after police announced on 19 January that extensions on one-day permits issued on entry into Vavuniya will be reduced from one week to three days. People arriving from Vanni for various reasons including medical treatment say the time allowed is insufficient. Another police rule introduced on the same day restricts the time for refugees in camps to visit the town to four hours thus effectively preventing them taking up jobs outside. The government provides only cooked food and casual employment gave some income to many among 10,500 people in camps waiting for over a year to travel to southern areas.

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