Five days earlier, the police fired indiscriminately in Mannar town during the night damaging many houses and shops. Several people were injured and a resident of Kaddukaran Kudiyiruppu was killed. PLOTE leader D Sitharthan whose office was also damaged has demanded an inquiry.
People say the lull following the opening of a land route to the south from Mannar after Army operation Edibala in February has been shattered. The Army searched Mannar town on 21 March to track down Tiger infiltrators. Over 1,000 people were taken to the police station, questioned and later released.
After Edibala, 10 to 15 lorries arrive daily in Mannar carrying food and prices have fallen. Reports say that the 4,000 fishing families are relieved now that fish can be sent to southern markets. But farmers who fled to LTTE-controlled Madhu area are angry over the military’s refusal to allow them to return to their fields to harvest 15,000 acres of rice. Further south in Puttalam District, security forces conducted a search in Manaltivu Tamil village on 5 March and detained 20 people. Over 1,200 people in Udappu were interrogated on 29 March and another 20 taken into custody. Police say they are from the north.