Armed gang robs food lorries meant for Vakarai IDPs
Five of the eight lorries carrying food relief to the people in the Vakarai area were looted by an armed gang while three returned when the convoy could not proceed to its destination, military sources said. The lorry loads of food were arranged by Batticaloa Government Agent R. Punyamoorthy but they could proceed only up to Mankerny, the last government-controlled area in the east.

Military spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said a three-hour period was given for the lorries to enter Vakarai and return, but due to the shelling by the LTTE in Chenkaladi the vehicles arrived at the security forces checkpoint at Mankerny later. “The ICRC will have to make fresh arrangements today to send the supplies”, he said. Reports from Mankerny said five of the eight lorries were hijacked closed to the army checkpoint by an armed group and the food was distributed to villagers.

The food items were meant for some 40,000 internally displaced Mutur people in Vakarai. They were further affected due to the recent shelling by the army last week. Government Agent Punyamoorthy told The Sunday Times that in view of yesterday’s incident, he would not be able to organise relief supplies unless there was a security guarantee.

The food relief to Vakarai was organized after TNA parliamentarians took up the matter in their discussion with President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday. The TNA last morning staged a protest inside parliament about the failure to send food despite a presidential pledge. Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle told the MPs that steps would be taken to send the food supplies within a day.