Sri Lankan soldiers surrounded, forcibly entered and searched the Tamil National People's Front office in Mullaitivu yesterday, in what the party has described as a “blatant attempt to intimidate us”.
The Sri Lankan state has replaced the name board at the mountain known in English as Adam's Peak, from 'Sivanadi Patham' (Siva's footprint) to 'The Sacred Footprint of Gauthama Buddha'.
The move has been condemned by Tamils as further evidence of the Buddhisation of Tamil or Hindu historic and cultural references.
Three Sinhala fishermen were arrested yesterday over the torching of Tamil fishermen's boats and huts in Mullaitivu on Monday, which destroyed hundreds of thousands of rupees worth of fishing equipment.
Locals believe the arson attacks to be reprisal attacks for a week long protest by Tamil fishermen against government and police inaction over illegal fishing by Sinhala fishermen.
The arrested men, who are understood to be residing in Trincomalee, had travelled to Mullaitivu, where they are accused of engaging in prohibited fishing methods.
Sinhalese settlers in Nayaru, Mullaitivu left the area on Thursday with a heavy police escort, after tensions in the area over ongoing disputes about their illegal fishing activities boiled over this week.
Sri Lankan military intelligence officers harassed Jaffna Municipal Council workers who were putting up a barrier around the Thileepan memorial in Nallur, Jaffna on Tuesday.
The plain clothes military intelligence officers threatened the workers that they could be detained in future, forcing the workers to stop work and return to the Municipal Council office out of fear. They refused to go back.
The council was forced to hire private workers to complete the barrier.
A Sri Lankan military truck hit and killed a Tamil man riding his motorcycle in Kilinochchi on Wednesday.
The man, identified as a 51-year-old resident of Bharathipuram in Kilinochchi, was reportedly pronounced dead at the site of the collision, at the 155th milestone.
Sri Lankan police are reportedly investigating the incident.
Sri Lankan military vehicles have frequently caused accidents in the North-East, leading to the deaths of several Tamils in the region.
Sri Lanka's navy chief, Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne gave Rs 500,000 in cash to help the former navy lieutenant commander, wanted over the abduction and murder of 11 Tamil youths, escape arrest last year, the Colombo magistrate was told Wednesday.
“There is incriminating evidence against Admiral Wijegunaratne’s role in allowing the accused to evade arrest,” the police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) was quoted by local papers as saying to the magistrate.
Tamil villagers in Amparai staged a protest this week, demanding resettlement in their land which is currently being occupied by the Sri Lankan military.
Sri Lanka's former navy lieutenant commander, Prasad Chandana Hettiarachchi, alias 'Navy Sampath' has been remanded in custody until August 29, the Daily Mirror reports.
Lieutenant Commander Hettiarachchi was arrested this week over the abduction and murdering of 11 Tamil youths from 2008 to 2009.
He had been evading authorities ever since he was released on bail earlier this year. He was reportedly arrested at Lotus Road in Colombo with a false identity card.
Sri Lanka’s deputy minister of national integration, reconciliation and official languages has claimed that Tamils who fled the island should return as peace now prevailed.
A court-imposed ban on journalists entering a mass grave site in Mannar has been lifted after journalists challenged the injunction last week.
Lawyer P. Deniswaran said that the judge accepted that the court order had contained errors and confirmed that journalists could visit the site to collect news without being disturbed.
Registered journalists could obtain permission from the police officer on duty at the mass grave excavation site, the judge said.
