Abductions, disappearances and unexplained killings continue to be reported from the North and the East, although there has been a drop in the number of such incidents, according to the Presidential Commission on Disappearances.
Between January 1 and May 31 this year, a total of 459 such cases were reported by the 63 police stations in the North and the East – 128 incidents in the North and 331 in the East.
Batticaloa continued to be the most badly affected, with 129 disappearances, 32 abductions, 15 unexplained killings and three unidentified bodies. The Wanni district followed with 40 abductions, 34 disappearances, two unexplained killings and an unidentified dead body.
Forty-nine such cases were reported from the Trincomalee district, 87 from Ampara, 24 from Mannar, 13 from Kantalai, and 12 from Jaffna.
T. A. Mahanama Tilakaratne, retired High Court judge and chairman of the Presidential Commission on Disappearances, recently summoned senior police officers and district and divisional secretaries to personally report on the law and order situation in the East, and the state of civil administration in areas liberated from LTTE control.
The reports suggested that life in the Ampara district had returned to normal, while civil administration was reaching a satisfactory level in Trincomalee. In the Batticaloa district, the police continued to maintain a number of checkpoints. The Commission said the checkpoints were necessary for the safety of the public.
Commissioner Tillakaratne said the police were forced to step in when friction between rival groups started to cause tension in the Batticaloa community.
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