Wanni residents up in arms against LTTE

A massive demonstration was staged by several hundred civilians against LTTE atrocities in Asikulam and Mahilankulam areas in Wanni on Tuesday.

The demonstration was staged in the wake of the abduction of senior People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) member Sinnathamby Ganeshalingam alias Farook by unknown gunmen on December 12.

Farook was abducted while riding his motorbicycle around noon on Monday. Eyewitnesses said they saw some 10 gunmen forcibly taking Farook in a van.

Following Farook's abduction, several hundred men and women demonstrated in Asikulam and Mahilankulam areas. When the demonstrators were heading towards Vavuniya town , Police intervened and stopped them at the Rampawa junction where they had been sitting for several hours chanting slogans against the abduction. The demonstrators also carried placards against the killings, extortion and other form of threats by the LTTE in Wanni, sources said.

The demonstrators also handed over a petition to Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission officials in Vavuniya urging Farook's release.

PLOTE leader Darmalingam Sitharthan said Farook was a senior member in the organisation and he was involved in humanitarian activities such as helping in the construction of houses for the displaced in Wanni.

Sources said the Vavuniya demonstration was the first of its kind in Wanni by civilians against the LTTE.

Meanwhile, kith and kin of victims of LTTE atrocities who live in Europe also staged an anti-LTTE protest opposite the United Nations building in Geneva, Switzerland last Saturday.