Relatives of an 18-year-old Tamil youth have accused the Sri Lankan police of opening fire on him while he was operating a tractor in Kodikamam, Jaffna, on Friday night.
The victim, identified as Manickavasagar Mathusan, was reportedly transporting soil from a recently dug well to a nearby flooded area when police officers allegedly fired at him without warning. He sustained critical injuries and is currently receiving treatment at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
According to relatives, Mathusan had been working to support his family after his father passed away a month ago.
“The police had no reason to shoot. If they had doubts, they could have come closer and inquired,” one relative said. “They now claim that they fired because the driver attempted to flee in the tractor. But how can a tractor carrying soil flee at 100 kilometres per hour? The police could have easily pursued and stopped it.”
Family members insisted that the tractor had been stationary at the time of the shooting and accused police of fabricating their account of the incident. “The firing was not from behind but from the side,” they said, adding that bullet holes were found on the tractor’s side panels and that Mathusan had been struck in the waist.
Relatives condemned what they described as an unprovoked and reckless act of violence and demanded an impartial investigation into the shooting. They also accused the police of attempting to mislead the media by claiming that the officers had fired at a fleeing vehicle.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Police said the incident occurred when officers attempted to stop a tractor that was allegedly transporting sand without authorisation. According to their account, the driver had driven the vehicle “in a manner that nearly struck the officer-in-charge of the police station.” Police claimed a constable had first fired a warning shot into the air as a “self-defensive measure,” but when the tractor continued forward, officers opened fire, injuring the youth.
The tractor has since been seized as evidence, and the police stated that further investigations are underway.
The shooting has reignited anger in the Tamil homeland, where security forces have long been accused of acting with impunity. Despite repeated promises of reform and accountability, incidents of violence by Sri Lankan police and military personnel against Tamil civilians continue to occur with little transparency or consequence.
