Jaffna mourns students Gajan and Sulakshan

By Dharisha Bastians

Shops and business establishments across the Jaffna town shut down yesterday in protest against the deaths of two students of the Jaffna University who were allegedly shot by police personnel in Kankesanthurai on last Thursday (20) night.

The streets of Jaffna were deserted and transport services came to a standstill as the North mourned the deaths of Natarajan Gajan and Pounraj Sulakshan who were killed in the alleged shooting last week.

The shutdown came amid claims by a group calling itself ‘AAVA Gangsters’ that it slashed two intelligence officers in the Chunnakam market area in Jaffna on Sunday in an act of retaliation against the killings of the two students. In posters appearing in some areas of Jaffna town, the group claimed it was standing against the destruction of Tamil society and culture and vowed to act against Tamil police personnel collaborating with their Sinhalese counterparts.

In Parliament yesterday, Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake claimed that Police had launched an investigation into the ‘AAVA’ group, a sinister gang that Jaffna-based correspondents said had been operating in the region for a while. The group had allegedly been involved in robberies in the area, and many of its members had already been arrested and remanded by the police, correspondents noted.  Correspondents in Jaffna claim that the ‘Aava’ (meaning ‘we arrived’ in Sinhalese) was allegedly a construct of the security establishment under the former Government, since it was highly doubtful that a Tamil gang would call itself that name.

Two policemen attached to the National Intelligence Bureau were hospitalised after being stabbed with swords last Sunday (23).

However, speaking to Daily FT, Police Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana said the department had been requested not to divulge information about ongoing investigations.

Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran, who is currently overseas, issued a statement of regret about the student killings last week, saying the incident had “deeply distressed” him. In his statement, Chief Minister Wigneswaran called for an impartial investigation into the incident and urged the student community to stay calm until the authorities could provide more information about the alleged shooting. The Northern Province Council had called for a detailed report into the incident, the Chief Minister added.

Final rites for the two students were held in Kilinochchi and Jaffna, as thousands of students from the Jaffna University declared a day of mourning and staged a peaceful protest outside the District Secretariat on Monday, demanding an independent investigation into the suspected shooting.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation Department, which was flown into Jaffna to launch a special investigation into the alleged killings, commenced their crime scene investigation on Monday.

The deaths sparked a wave of protests in university campuses around the island on Monday, organised by the Inter-University Students Federation (IUSF) in solidarity with a peaceful demonstration by thousands of students of the Jaffna University who were demanding an independent investigation into the suspected shooting.

IUSF Convenor Lahiru Weerasekera said the student union believed the two students were murdered, and said the Government was responsible for the deaths since the Police Department was involved. 

Tensions in Kilinochchi, one police officer injured 

Tensions were reported in Kilinochchi last evening following an altercation between police and residents. 

One police officer was hospitalised with minor injuries after being attacked with a broken bottle by a man under the influence of alcohol in Kilinochchi, Government Information Director Dr. Ranga Kalansooriya told Daily FT last night. 

Police had the situation under control, the Government Spokesman said. 

Another incident had also been reported from Manipay in Jaffna, the Information Director said, where a CTB bus that was operating in spite of the harthal called to protest the student deaths came under attack. “It was a minor issue and no damages,” Dr. Kalansooriya noted. 

Reports from the area said that the residents were protesting the increased presence of police and STF personnel after two students were killed in a police shooting. One of the students was a resident of Kilinochchi. 

According to correspondents in the area, a group of unruly youths had broken bottles and set tyres on fire near the Kilinochchi hospital A9 road in an attempt to stop traffic along the main highway. Stones had been thrown at a Jaffna-Kandy bus by the protesters, the correspondent said. 

The group had clashed with police when they arrived on the scene, the reports said. The reports further stated that police in riot gear had been deployed to maintain calm.