The Army arrested six Tamils working in rice fields in Sinnawathai on Amparai-Batticaloa border, on 6 July, including P Jeyendran, 19. No receipts relating to the arrests were issued to relatives. The ICRC says that it received 131 complaints between January and June regarding people who went missing in Batticaloa and Amparai districts. The whereabouts of 18 people are still unknown. On 15 July, three Tamil youths from Karaitivu went missing. The Special Task Force denied arresting them. But later, the HRC announced that they were in STF custody.
A Vijayanandan, 20 and Thurairajah Kumar, 19, disappeared at a military checkpoint near Kalmunai two days later. On 18 July, Education Department’s S Akilendran and Technical College lecturer S Thangarajah were taken into custody by a team from the police Counter Subversive Unit in Kandy. Reports say their arrest followed information provided by two LTTE suspects in custody.
LTTE’s Pistol Group shot dead two policemen at the Kaluvanchikudi bus station on 10 July. A day earlier, police killed S Ketheeswaran and K Jusudasan in Batticaloa town. Police allege that they were involved in the murder of former local councillor K Navaratnarasa in June. Mr Jesudasan belonged to Tamil group and government ally, EPDP, but the police allege he had links with the Tigers. Two soldiers were killed and eight others were wounded in a Tiger landmine attack on 29 July near Welikanda. On 3 August, seven soldiers were wounded in another mine attack at Vavunativu.
In early July, 300 Tamil pilgrims from the east to the holy city of Kataragama, 90 miles south-west of Batticaloa town, were taken into custody near Yala Sanctuary. They were released after EPDP intervened. Forty Tamils were rounded-up in Kataragama in late July and six were detained.
In Trincomalee District, the LTTE assaulted an Army camp on Anuradhapura road on 10 July. A Buddhist temple near the camp also came under attack. Two Home Guards were killed and five others, including a Buddhist priest, were wounded. The following day the Pistol Group shot dead police sergeant Bandara in Trincomalee town. Seven soldiers were injured in a landmine attack near Muthur, south of Trincomalee town, on 18 July.
Local people say Muthur Kalaimagal Hindu College student N Vimaleswaran who was arrested by the Army on 11 June, suffered torture and admitted to the hospital twice. Other students began a boycott of classes on 4 July demanding his release.