The Tamil speaking Christian community in Sri Lanka’s northern city of Jaffna is shocked by the brutal murder of a Protestant Christian Tamil pastor in broad daylight on January 13th.

38 year old pastor of the evangelical Tamil mission church Jaffna , Rev. Nallathamby Gnanaseelan, was shot dead as he was travelling on his motor cycle along chapel street in the heart of Jaffna town.

The incident happened near the Vembaddy road junction at about 10. 30 am on Saturday .

Uniformed soldiers on duty near the Vembaddy - Hospital road were responsible for the brutal killing say eyewitnesses.

Rev. Gnanaseelan , a member of the National evangelical alliance clergy fellowship in Jaffna, was the pastor in charge of the Tamil mission Church in Jaffna.

On Saturday morning the pastor had gone on his motor bike to Jaffna hospital with his wife Serena and a seven year old eldest daughter who was sick. He had left the mother and daughter at the hospital at about 10. 00 am asking them to return home by bus after medical treatment was over.

Rev. Gnanaseelan was scheduled to be in Ariyalai where a day long prayer - fast was on at the church.

He had then gone to the bazaar and bought a few things. Thereafter he was proceeding along chapel street on his motor cycle.

Soldiers stationed at the Vembaddy rd - Hospital rd junction were reportedly sauntering along the nearby roads. Soldiers had signalled Rev. Gnanaseelan to stop and the pastor had promptly obliged.

Suddenly one of the soldiers had fired from a few yards away hitting Rev. Gnanaseelan in the leg and stomach. The pastor fell with the bike too toppling down.

The soldiers had then walked closer to the man lying on the road and shot the bleeding priest in the head at point blank range.

They had then taken away Rev. Gnanaseelan’s bible, bag, ID card and other things in his possession and also his motor cycle.

The priest’s body lay on the road for more than an hour till he was “officially” discovered by the Police at 11. 30 am.

The acting Jaffna district judge Mr. M. Thirunavukkarasu went to the scene for a preliminary inquiry and instructed Police to trace the victim’s identity. The body was taken to the Jaffna hospital morgue.

Meanwhile Mrs. Serena Gnanaseelan with her daughter had returned home not knowing that her husband had been brutally murdered in cold blood by uniformed assassins.

She had not been perturbed even when Rev. Gnanaseelan had not returned home that night. Since a curfew was in force from 7.00 pm she had thought her husband was staying on in the church with parishioners during night.

When distraught family members went to claim the body they were informed that the body was that of a “terrorist”.

The Soldiers on duty at Vembaddy - hospital rd junction had reported that the victim had tried to take out a grenade from his bag and fling it at them. They had shot him dead in self - defence they had claimed.

In a bid to frame Rev. Gnanaseelan a grenade had been placed inside the bag by the authorities.

Upon finding that the dead man was a well - known Christian pastor the original story was amended accordingly. It was now claimed that the priest had not heeded instructions to stop. Therefore the soldiers were constrained to shoot and kill it was now said.

http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/270

(Edited)