The September attack is the seventh on the village since 1990 and some residents believe it was in retaliation for the killing of three security personnel at Wijithapura 18 hours earlier, allegedly by the LTTE. Others say that it was the continuation of the attempt at ethnic cleansing. Some 1,200 Tamil families and hundreds of local government employees have been driven out of Amparai District.
Deputy Defence minister A Ratwatte pledged stern action, but no policeman was present at the magisterial enquiry on 30 September. Two days earlier, over 1,500 Sinhalese demonstrated before the Amparai secretariat against the transfer of the policemen involved and the withdrawal of Home Guards’ arms. They say that without armed Home Guards they would be easy targets of the LTTE.
In Batticaloa District, 52 boats worth Rs 5.2 million ($104,000) belonging to Muslims of Kattankudy and Palukamam were burned by an armed gang on 5 September. Local people say the atrocity was committed by Tamil group TELO which had failed at extortion from Muslim fishermen at Palukamam.
TELO member V Vithyatharan and another person were shot and injured by the Tigers at Navatkudah, south of Batticaloa, on 9 September. The Defence Ministry says the LTTE shot dead three Sinhalese farmers on 17 September at Ruvanpitiya in Polonnaruwa District.
Some 50,000 Batticaloa people demonstrated on 15 September against military attacks and economic blockade of LTTE areas. The Defence Ministry announced in September that the 21 August ban on NGOs into Tiger-controlled areas north and west of Batticaloa will continue until the completion of Operation Jayasikurui in the Vanni.
Most hospitals in the Tiger-held Vaharai, north of Batticaloa town are closed. Earlier, ICRC and French Medical agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) were permitted into these areas once a week. Batticaloa MP Ali Sahir says the restrictions on pain killers has led patients to consume alcohol instead. Two children died of diarrhoea on 19 September in Thihilivattai.
Thihilivattai Village Headman S Dharmalingam and cooperative union officer P Prabhakaran disappeared after the Army arrested them on 16 September. Mr Dharmalingam is the fifth Village Headman to be arrested. Death squads are still active in Batticaloa. The decapitated body of Koralankerni resident S Sinnathurai was found in a well in mid-September. Kalkudah resident K Thillainayagam’s body was recovered from a shallow grave in late September.