Sri Lankan state minister and paramilitary leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan was confronted by angry Tamil villagers in Vakarai as his supporters were chased away by women wielding slippers on Friday.
Locals had opposed an aquaculture project that the newly appointed state minister, known by his nomme de guerre Pillayan, had arrived to inaugurate.
Sri Lankan police had to intervene as locals chased away Pillayan’s associates. He remains head of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) , a government-aligned paramilitary group, and is accused of assassinating former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Joseph Pararajasingham amongst other abuses.
Earlier this year, Sri Lanka's Attorney General Department declared it was to drop the charges against the suspects involved in the murder of Joseph Pararajasingham, including Pillayan. Amnesty International called it a “failure of justice”.
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