SL claims of ‘LTTE regrouping’ to justify militarisation – Wigneswaran

The Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council said that the story about the re-emergence of the LTTE was floated by the Sri Lankan government to justify the heavy militarisation of the north.

Speaking to The Hindu, Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran said the story was “very weak” and that unanswered questions remained, including about the policeman, who was allegedly shot by ‘Gopi’, the individual named by the Sri Lankan government as a wanted LTTE suspect.

“We have been repeatedly asking the government to confine the military in the north to the barracks, but the government does not want to demilitarise the north. This story is only to justify that,” Mr. Wigneswaran told The Hindu.

The Sri Lankan military continues to claim that Gopi and his accomplice Appan are involved with re-establishing the LTTE with support of the Tamil diaspora and has offered a Rs1mn reward for information leading to their capture.

“We hear that sections of the diaspora are funding some of those elements here,” Jaffna Security Forces Commander Udaya Perera said to The Hindu.

“There is no popular support for such regrouping, but such forces may exploit vulnerable communities in the north. We will not allow that,” he added.

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