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Dreaded ‘Aava’ motorcycle bandits boast about terrorising Jaffna
View(s):Families hunker down behind locked doors in fear of midnight attacks
By Sandran Rubatheesan
Seven years after armed conflict ended in the north, tension and uncertainty have re-emerged in the minds of Jaffna people with reports of attacks by motorbike gangs and groups of thugs operating in the region. The violence has seen smaller towns in the Jaffna peninsula go into sleep mode by early evening as families lock themselves into their houses in fear of attacks by bandits in junctions and other public places.
The main culprits belong to the Aava group but defence authorities have found there are at least five other underworld gangs active in the north since 2009, including the groups known as Dillu, Nimalan, Jood, Paheel and Sanna. Officials are pulling out all stops to arrest all of them and bring normalcy in the region.
The now-prominent and notorious Aava group was formed around 2013 by local thugs ready to commit any crime for money. It is active in Jaffna suburban areas and uses vehicles with no number plates.
Security tightened in Jaffna town. Pic by N. Logadayalan
The alleged leader of the group, Vinothan, was arrested in April last year over a sword attack in 2013 and since then he has been in remand. In that incident, a group of youngsters led by him went to a house at midnight and went berserk, attacking a person with swords and knives.
The group got its name from its leader who was nicknamed “Muyal” (rabbit) by his close associates. The Sinhalese term for rabbit, “hava” was also used on him as he is fluent in Sinhala and has connections with other groups. Eventually the name “Aava” derived from this term. As time went on, the gang became more violent in its attacks and robberies and set a new trend of claiming responsibility for such acts.
Initial police investigations reveal that the members of these gangs charge money to carry out attacks on individuals and that in some instances they have been used by micro-financial institutions in the north to collect leasing vehicles or items when customers failed to pay instalments on time.
Three special police teams with the assistance of Special Task Forces (STF) have been deployed in Jaffna to end the menace of these notorious motorbike gangs. Search operations are being carried out in areas such as Manipay, Chunnakam and Kopay. Leave for senior police officers in the north has been cancelled and an internal probe has been launched into the recent incident in Kilinochchi where a police officer was attacked by a resident with broken bottles and had to be admitted to hospital.
Days after the deaths of two Jaffna University students killed reportedly in a police shooting, a shop was attacked in the Chunnakam area by individuals who rode in on motorbikes and stole the cash register of the shop and also attacked people nearby. Two of the injured were later identified as plainclothed officials attached to the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB).
Distributing leaflets in suburban towns of Jaffna, the Aava group claimed responsibility for the attack and warned that a special team of Tamil-speaking police officers formed to eliminate criminal activities would be its next target. When Law and Order minister Sagala Ratnayake was asked at a press briefing this week about alleged military intelligence involvement with the violent gangs, he declined to comment and walked away laughing and saying, “I didn’t say yes or no”.
Military spokesperson Brigadier Roshan Seneviratne rejected such allegations.
“Yes, we do have our own intelligence personnel in those areas but they are not involved in any such criminal activities,” he said, adding that he looked forward to seeing the truth made clear soon with the findings of a police inquiry. Senior police officials declined to comment on how they were going to tackle the increasing violence in the north, with a local DIG saying the government had directed them not to speak to the press on the matter.
| Govt. gives priority to recruit Tamil -speaking policemen in NE The Government is to expedite the recruitment of Tamil-speaking police officers to serve in the North and East and fill existing vacancies. The decision follows a proposal by Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake to the Government, especially after the recent violent incidents in the North involving the Police. The minister pointed out that there was a need for greater rapport between civilians in those areas and the different police stations. The Government will give immediate priority to fill the existing vacancies and thereafter, more are to be recruited. | |