The body of Porativu Regional Councillor Poopalapillai Alaguthurai, 35, was found in Batticaloa lagoon at Mandur on 22 December. A complaint was made by fellow councillors to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that he had been abducted six days earlier. The injuries on his body indicate that he had suffered severe torture.
His wife says that he was forcibly taken by two well known LTTE members - Mylwaganam Paramanathan and Ramiah Rajan. Mr Alaguthurai was a member of Tamil group EPRLF (Varathar Faction), which is known for its opposition to the Tigers. He had been repeatedly asked by the LTTE to resign from the council (Pradeshiya Sabha).
EPDP say that their Batticaloa party organiser Sellathurai Thangarajah, former councillor Nagarajah Nesarajah and Kandiah Gnanasekaram have been abducted by the LTTE. Tamil groups EPDP, EPRLF and PLOTE have complained to the SLMM that the LTTE had abducted nine of their members. Their whereabouts are not known, but these groups believe that they are detained in a Tiger camp at Tharavai. This includes Arumugam Soundararajah, abducted on 3 July and Savarimuthu Mathivathanam taken on 11 December. LTTE’s eastern political leader Kausalyan has denied responsibility for the abductions.
The office of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) on Mahilady Road in Batticaloa town came under grenade attack on 12 December. The TRO, which is said to have been established by the LTTE, opened its office in Batticaloa town following the ceasefire agreement in February 2002.
Parents have complained to the police that Thangathurai Gayathri, 18, was abducted on 23 December. Three unidentified persons had taken her by force at night from her house in Vantharumoolai. Seenithamby Uthayakumar was shot and wounded at Arayampathy, three miles south of Batticaloa, in late December.
The LTTE office at Kallady was surrounded by soldiers on 3 January, after Army intelligence officer S Pulendrarajah disappeared. Following negotiations between senior military and Tiger officers, soldiers were allowed to enter without weapons and search the premises. But the officer was not found.
According to complaints received by the Human Rights Commission, there is no information about 42 people in Batticaloa and four in Amparai disappeared in 2002. In the past, thousands of people disappeared in both districts, after arrest by the security forces.