The Hindu : Third killing in Batticaloa this month

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 31, 2004

International

International

Third killing in Batticaloa this month

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, MARCH 30. A Tamil National Alliance (TNA) candidate, Rajan Sathiyamoorthy, was shot dead this morning in the eastern Batticaloa town, bringing the month-long election campaign for Sri Lanka's April 2 Parliamentary election to a bloody end.

According to military sources, Sathiyamoorthy and his brother-in-law were shot at his residence in Batticaloa around 8.20 a.m. They were taken to the Batticaloa hospital, where they were declared dead.

A third person wounded in the attack is now undergoing treatment in the hospital.

The identity of the killers has not yet been established, but military sources suspect the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), as Sathiyamoorthy was a known supporter of V. Muralitharan, the expelled rebellious military commander of the Tigers.

The LTTE had branded Mr. Muralitharan (a.k.a. `Col.' Karuna) a "traitor,'' declared that they had decided to "get rid of him'' and warned his supporters to leave him.

According to sources in Batticaloa, Sathiyamoorthy had publicly declared his support for `Col.' Karuna. Today's killing is the third reported from Batticaloa since early March. A candidate from the ruling United National Party (UNP) and a political activist of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) were shot dead earlier this month, also by as yet "unidentified gunmen.''

Later on March 3, `Col.' Karuna broke ranks with the LTTE and cited political killings as one of the reasons. Two others — an academic from the Eastern University and the Government Agent (the equivalent of an Indian District Collector), R. Mounaguruswamy — who are said to be supporters of `Col.' Karuna have also been attacked.

Mr. Mounaguruswamy, who was shot at on March 27 in Batticaloa, is now undergoing treatment in the National Hospital in Colombo. Hospital sources said his condition was "stable.''

EU condemns killings

A large contingent of foreign election observers, including a team from the European Union, is now in the island to oversee the polls. The head of the EU's observer mission, John Cushnahan, who was on a scheduled visit to Batticaloa today condemned the eastern killings since early March.

"Many local people,'' Mr. Cushnahan said, "believe that there is a connection between all these incidents and it seems to me that forces external to the election process are responsible because they are intent on influencing the outcome of this election and subverting the democratic process. This must not be allowed to happen.''

"Let me say to them directly, violence and democracy are incompatible and cannot co-exist together. If people are committed to peace they must choose the path to democracy and peace, and they must reject the use of violence and indeed use their energies to ensure that violence plays no part, not only during the course of the elections but indeed, after that as well,'' he said.

Mr. Cushnahan, who arrived in Batticaloa an hour after the killing, visited the Batticaloa hospital and called on the family of the bereaved.

LTTE condemns killing

The LTTE, in a statement, "condemned'' the killing of Sathiyamoorthy and said it "had created confusion in Batticaloa at a time when the people of the northeast were preparing to exercise their political aspirations through the elections.''

Military sources see the LTTE's statement as one that "aimed at the international community, which is keenly watching the situation.''

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