Police disrupted a student birthday celebration only minutes after it had begun at the Balasingham hostel at Jaffna University last night.
Carrying arms, the police stated they came due to an emergency call made to them from the hostel stating that students were being asked to come out for a midnight birthday celebration, but did not identify who called or what they said.
Students also reported that no one came forward to say they had called the police and there had been no emergency situation at the hostel requiring police attention.
When students said these midnight birthday celebrations happened regularly at the hostel and asked for the real reason the police had come, police threatened to shoot the students pointing their guns at them and searched the hostel premises.
The police stopped and started leaving when students asked if they had informed the Warden of their presence, but before that they were able to gather the details of some of the student union representatives, including those of the Faculty of Arts Student Union leader who was involved in the student demonstrations over the killings of Kajan and Sulakshan, and Ezhuka Tamil.
A source at the university later said some of the police officers told students they were coming to investigate preparations for Maaveerar Naal.
The students plan to file a complaint with the university.