Sri Lanka Defense Secretary orders probe into Army attack on Tamil party meeting

Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has ordered the Jaffna Army Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe to conduct an extensive investigation into the alleged attack on a meeting of the major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in Jaffna on June 16.


Rajapaksa has ordered the Jaffna Army Commander conduct a thorough investigation and arrest the culprits promptly, the star-run radio Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation said.

Pointing out that such attacks disrupt the ethnic harmony and enormously damage the government's efforts in reconciliation, the Defence Secretary has instructed the Army Commander to prevent such incidents taking place when the region is beginning to experience the benefits of post-war development.

TNA parliamentarian Mavai Senathirajah complained that on June 16 night over 100 soldiers had entered the Alawetti College in Jaffna where the meeting was being held and forcibly removed the microphones.

Senathirajah said police bodyguards of the TNA MPs who had intervened had been assaulted along with the people at the meeting and several people who had participated at the event were injured due to the attack.

Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe meanwhile has met the TNA parliamentarians and exchanged views regarding the incident, the SLBC reported.