Senior member of All Ceylon Tamil Congress in Vavuniya district, A.K. Senthilnathan, shot by paramilitary gunmen around 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, succumbed to his wounds at Vavuniya hospital, medical sources said. Mr. Senthilnathan, a popular trader and a senior member of the Tamil National Alliance party ACTC, is a candidate in the local elections to be held in Vavuniya. Sri Lankan Police did not rush to the crime scene. However, scandinavian truce monitors from Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) visited the assasination site.
A Tamil civilian, S. K. Raveendran, 36, was shot and killed inside Sri Lanka Army High Security area in Omanthai Tuesday around 9:30 p.m. The incident took place beyond the Thandikulam point where the A-9 road remains blocked.
Mr.S.Vino Noharathalingam, Vanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Wednesday issued a statement vehemently condemning the killing of Mr.A.K.Senthilnathan, a senior TNA leader in Vavuniya district. Mr.Vino Noharathalingam further stated Sri Lankan armed forces and the police instead of providing security to the people are engaged in creating tension and fear among the people by allowing gunmen to rule the area freely, sources said. Members of the public would arrest the killers if the security forces and police personnel were withdrawn from the Vavuniya town. Government troops and police are helping the killers to escape after committing the crime in daylight, he said in the statement.
