TWO INCLUDING A LTTE HEAD IN BATTICALOA DIE AS SUSPECTED KARUNA GUNMEN OPEN FIRE ON BLACK TIGER DAY IN THE EAST
By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
July 05, 06.00 PM: The commemoration festivals for the world’s biggest suicide squad, the Black Tigers organized by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) dawned with ominous signs for them in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province where two of the LTTE’s activists including the rebel group’s Batticaloa political Division head were killed in two separate incidents, political sources in Batticaloa said.
According to reports from Batticaloa, the LTTE political division head for Batticaloa town, Senathy and a senior cadre of the LTTE, Ravi were killed in these separate incidents related to the Black Tiger Day the rebel group commemorated, July 5, all over Sri Lanka’s Eastern and Northern Provinces. Defying the requests of the United States and other Western nations to disband the squad of walking bombs the LTTE was celebrating the day to encourage others to join the world’s largest suicide squad
Two other people who also reportedly traveled with them, Mani and Mathi were injured and admitted to the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital.
Few months ago it was the members of opposing Tamil political parties of the LTTE and intelligence officers of the Sri Lanka Army, mostly Tamil who were at the receiving end of the violence inflicted allegedly by the LTTE. Frustrated, the civilians carried their dead in front of the Batticaloa office of the Norway managed Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission office since the allegedly pro-LTTE Norwegians refused to do anything that might provoke the LTTE then.
But this time political sources in Batticaloa said it was the LTTE’s own faction headed by their renegade leader Karuna who were suspected of giving a dose of LTTE’s own medicine to them.
In the first incident, the senior cadre of the LTTE, Ravi was killed by unidentified gunmen, at Vantharumoolai, around 10. 00 a.m., the LTTE news website, the Tamil Net said. He was killed while he was riding a motorbike, and the pillion rider of his bike was wounded, the LTTE controlled news website said. The dead body of Ravi was lying on the Batticaloa-Valaichenai road the rebel controlled website admitted
The Batticaloa political head Senathy was also shot at and received serious injuries on the head while riding a motorbike with another, the rebel website said. That incident took place at Arasady Junction, the rebel website added.
Other sources at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital said Senathy succumbed to his injuries later. The colleague of Senathy who was injured with him , Mathi is the LTTE Sports official for Batticaloa Ampara Districts who was busy on that day organizing the Black Tiger Day sports activities.
In both incidents, the dead and the injured were traveling to take part in the Black Tigers Day celebrations organized by the LTTE at the Devanayagam Hall, Batticaloa, the capital of the Eastern Province.
