Sri Lanka’s military said Friday troops had shot dead three men being sought for attempting to revive the LTTE, including ‘Gopi’ described as the leader.
Military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said the incident took place when troops surrounded them in jungle near Padaviya in the Nedunkerny area, Vavuniya.
“Three armed suspects who attempted to escape the area confronted the troops in the cordon. All three were killed,” he said in a press release.
Two of the men were Sundaralingam Kajeepan (‘Thevihan’), Selvanayagam Kajeepan (‘Gobi’) and the third is believed to be Navaratnam Navaneethan (‘Appan’), the statement said.
Photos of all three appeared on wanted posters which appeared last week in Jaffna and the South, including Colombo.
The Sunday Times quoted officials as saying Gopi and his accomplices “were involved in subversive activities aimed at destabilizing the civilian administration in the north and east and also fuelling ethnic hatred among the major communities.”