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Indian mission car hijacked in Colombo

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Driver beaten up and released in the early hours of Tuesday

COLOMBO: An Indian High Commission staff car, on its way to the Colombo International Airport, was hijacked and the driver abducted by five armed persons in the Seeduwa police area here on Monday night.

The incident came to light only when the bruised driver contacted mission officials after his captors released him around 4 a.m. on Tuesday. The Government and the police said they were investigating the mission complaint. The episode has raised eyebrows as the 30-km stretchfrom here to the Katunayake international airport is dotted with security checkpoints. There is also heavy traffic at any given point of time.

According to preliminary reports, gathered from the driver's statement, he drove the vehicle out of the city around 11 p.m. to receive an Indian official. He was chased by a car from Peliyagoda and his vehicle was blocked near the Dandugama Bridge. He was dragged out by the abductors, taken to their car and tied. One of the abductors drove away the mission vehicle.

In 2005, the jeep of a diplomat was robbed at gunpoint at the Abeypussa rest house. It was not recovered.

Monday's incident comes at a time when civil rights groups in the island nation have expressed concern over the spate of abductions, disappearances and killings in and outside the national capital.

Meanwhile, the military said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam launched mortar fire at the security forces manning the Omanthai entry/exit point in Vavuniya on Tuesday, killing a soldier and injuring three others.

The Defence Ministry said the LTTE had resorted to sporadic mortar attacks since Monday to "compel" the security forces to close the entry/exit point so that people in the areas of Wanni which were not liberated would face shortage of commodities during the coming festival season.

"The LTTE is said to have ordered the civilians to refrain from going into government-controlled areas. However, many civilians have already entered the government-controlled areas in Mannar due to the LTTE atrocities. The civilians have complained about forced labour, child conscription and increased human rights violations in the area."

TamilNet claimed that the LTTE targeted a triangular area covering East Ariyaalai, Naavatkuzhi and Kaeratheevu in Jaffna on Monday morning, when an exchange of artillery fire was reported along the forward defence lines in Jaffna and Vavuniya. "The Sri Lanka Army has suffered heavy casualties in artillery shelling by the Tigers."

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