Kilinochchi police arrested a former LTTE cadre yesterday in connection with the killing of two policemen in Vavunathivu, Batticaloa. Following intense investigations, in less than 48 hours, the police arrested one suspect in connection with the brutal killing at a checkpoint in Vavunathivu during the wee hours on Friday.
According to Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara, the 48-year-old suspect identified as Rasanayagam Sarvanandan alias Kannan is a resident of Vaddakkachchi, Kilinochchi.
Police are following a lead, that a dispute between the police and a group at a Maaveerar Naal memorial in the Thaandiyadi area in Batticaloa on November 27 had led to the killings.
Prior to November 27, police in the Northern and the Eastern Provinces went to court to obtain Stay Orders against the commemoration which marked the deaths of LTTE cadres. However, the court permitted the families to remember the dead but banned the use of the LTTE insignia. Sources said the celebrations in Thaandiyadi, home of the second largest LTTE cemetery ‘Thaandiyadi Thuyilum Illam’ prior to being destroyed in 2007 had, however, violated the court directions.
When the police visited the site on the day of the incident, a dispute had arisen between the police and the organisers. Threats had been issued to the police during the fracas and the police said the deaths could have been a retaliatory attack. Sources told the Sunday Observer that the arrested suspect Kannan was the main organiser of the event. Police are seeking information as to who had instructed him and provided financial assistance to organise the memorial along with his possible connection to the killings. He was handed over yesterday evening to the team of Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officials who had arrived from Colombo to conduct investigations on the killings.
Meanwhile, the Police are also said to be attempting to trace two motorcycles spotted on CCTV leaving the area after 1 a.m. when the two slain officers were last seen alive by officers of a police patrol. The Special Task Force (STF) along with the police have also stepped up security in the area.
The bodies of the two men were discovered by officers who had arrived for the morning shift at the Police post at around 6 a.m. on Friday. IGP Pujith Jayasundara along with Senior DIG of the CID Ravi Seneviratne visited the area while CID investigators and intelligence agents were also deployed. The two cops had been shot with a T56 weapon while deep lacerations were also found on the body of one policeman. The two service revolvers of the duo were missing. The deceased policemen Ganesh Dinesh aged 28 and Niroshan Indika aged 35, were residents of Kalmunai and Galle. They were promoted to the rank of Sergeant posthumously.