Marxist party of Sri Lanka says armed groups operating in Jaffna

Sri Lanka's Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) today alleged that armed groups operate in Jaffna with the government's blessings and the police are unable to control them.

JVP parliamentarian Sunil Handunnetti told a press conference today that following the attack on several JVP members including himself, the police had said that even they were unsafe due to the armed groups in the area.

Handunnetti said that such attacks could not be carried out in a high security area like Jaffna without state patronage.

He said that the JVP members were attacked during a discussion at former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Padmini Sithambaranadan's residence in the Jaffna Town on the protest campaign to gather signatures for calling on the government to reveal the names of Tamil detainees.

He also noted that while the complaint about the attack was lodged with the police at 8 pm, the government spokesmen had already made statements that the attack was carried out by people in Jaffna.

Handunnetti challenged the government to prove that it was not involved in the attack by conducting a fair investigation into the incident.