Unidentified gunmen shot dead a former member of the LTTE Police Department in Vellankulam in Mannar district on Wednesday night.
The victim, 34 year old Naguleshwaran Krishnasuwamy, was in his own backyard working towards constructing his own home when the gunmen entered his house and shot him at 8.30pm, his wife, Kavitha said.
Naguleshwaran served in as a police officer in the LTTE Police Department in the LTTE run defacto state of Tamil Eelam.
Following the assassination, security has been tightened and patrols increased. The A32 was also closed off for a few hours.
The incident has sparked fear amongst Vellankulam residents and former LTTE cadre who have undergone the Sri Lankan government’s ‘rehabilitation’ programme, in an area that has been under intense military occupation since the end of the armed conflict.
An activist from an adjacent village, Thevanpitty, said the victim was engaged in encouraging Tamils to submit evidence to the UN inquiry into mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people.
Military intelligence officers had recently demanded that Naguleshwaran provide information about non-rehabilitated LTTE cadres or supporters in the region, however, he refused, a local source added.