Rivalry among the Tamil militant groups has a long history. Competition over control of the Tamil population in Army-held areas of the north-east, for the purpose of illegal taxes, led to clashes between PLOTE and TELO. Police say 15 cadre have been killed in the last six months.
TELO’s retaliation for the Colombo murders was swift. Within hours, four PLOTE members were shot or hacked to death in Vavuniya. Three days later, a PLOTE office in Vavuniya was blasted with a bomb. The Defence Ministry says in a statement on 18 May that the Army has disarmed the two groups to prevent escalation of the fighting. There was heightened tension in Vavuniya as clashes continued even after the Defence Ministry’s announcement. Tamil party sources say only 5% of the arms had been withdrawn by the military. According to other reports, Sri Lankan intelligence services suspect that the LTTE has infiltrated TELO.
As PLOTE and TELO clashed, the LTTE had been planning a major strike in the Batticaloa. Leader of the Razik Group, Muthulingam Ganeshakumar or Razik was killed by a suicide bomber on Trincomlaee Road in Batticaloa District on 29 May. Razik, who was a member of Tamil group EPRLF broke away to form the Razik Group, operating mainly in the east with the Army.
The Sri Lankan security forces used the Razik Group successfully against the LTTE and Razik had been a long-time target of the Tigers. Reports say Razik also provided security to EPRLF leader and new government ally Varatharaja Perumal when he visited Batticaloa recently. The Razik Group has been accused of abduction and murder of civilians suspected of links with the LTTE. Amnesty International says in its 1 June report that the group has carried out torture in the east.