Tamil People's National Alliance (TPNA) candidate and former Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member M. K. Shivajilingam has been arrested by Valvettithurai police officials today.
Shivajilingam was arrested at his home in Valvettithurai around 9:30am today. The Valvettithurai police officials claimed they had acted on a court order to arrest Shivajilingam and refused to disclose the reason for his arrest.
There are suspicions that he was arrested due to his intentions to organise remembrance events to mark Black Tigers Day (5th July) for the sacrifices of the Black Tigers (‘Karumpulikal’) – a wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). It is also believed this arrest may be due to him previously being wanted for celebrating the birthday of the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, two years ago.
There was a heavy army presence on bikes and patrolling the roads around many parts of Jaffna, including Vadamarachchi, in the wake of Black Tigers Day.
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