A demonstration was held in Jaffna against a planned land-grab to relocate a police department notorious for human rights violations.
The protest outside Uduvil district secretariat on Monday condemned attempts to relocate Chunnakam police station to privately-owned land in a residential neighbourhood.
Locals said they did not want Chunnakam police, who have a record of torture and murder, in their midst.
With the police department required to vacate its current premises on private land on the Chunnakam – Punnalaikattuvan road, the Sri Lankan government has been seeking a replacement property for the station.
It had initially been decided that the police department would relocate to a state-owned land on the same road, opposite the local veterinary surgery.
.jpeg)
However Chunnakam police refused the suggestion, claiming that the land was incompatible with the department’s needs, identifying instead a property close to the KKS road, belonging to a member of the Tamil diaspora.
Action was then commenced to seize the land and hand it over to Chunnakam police.
Protesters against the move condemned the land-grab of private land and stressed that the Chunnakam police station should not be built in their neighbourhood.
A petition outlining their concerns was also handed over to the Uduvil divisional secretariat.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
