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| Scotland
Yard worried over Tamil violence The BBC reports were among stories in the London media that highlighted the most recent murder of an 18-year-old Tamil youth, Asan Ratnasargan from Wembley, who was attacked and killed while the car he was travelling in with two other men, stopped at a traffic signal. In a news report headlined "Samurai sword gang strike", the Evening Standard's crime reporter Graham Keeley wrote: "Four killers armed with a Samurai sword, hammers and axes stabbed a teenager to death in what detectives believe is the latest gangland killing involving Sri Lankan Tamils.". "The murder took place as Mr. Ratnasargan's car stopped at traffic lights in Wembley on Saturday afternoon." The killers had followed in a red saloon car and had driven off after the attack. On Wednesday, BBC announced that police had arrested three persons in connection with the murder. Detective Inspector Andy Rowell, leading the investigation, was quoted by the Evening Standard as saying, "there seems to be no clear motive for the killing. We are not linking it to other murders among Tamils but we are liaising with detectives on other cases." The Daily Mirror said police were appealing for witnesses to contact them. The report also said it is believed that Ratnasargan's murder may be the latest in a series of violent clashes between Sri Lankan Tamil gangs. "Scotland Yard is concerned about the rising tide of murders in London's Tamil community. Often, extreme violence is used, with Samurai swords and axes, apparently the weapons of choice," the Evening Standard said. In June a gang struck twice in one hour after driving across London in a convoy, the newspaper said. Both murder victims were Tamils who had survived the initial assaults but died later in hospital of the horrific injuries. The first attack took place at 1 am on June 8 when a 23-year-old man was attacked in a Wembley street by a group armed with bottles, swords and an axe, the report said. Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton, the officer in charge of the June double murder inquiry was quoted in The Independent newspaper as saying: "The level of violence in these cases was quite savage." These two murders in June came hard on the heels of a verdict given at London's Old Bailey, sentencing one Tamil to two life terms for a double murder and three other Tamils for life for their part in the murder of an 18-year-old youth who was wounded and then set on fire. While some investigators seem to believe that these are domestic vendettas between persons from different villages in Sri Lanka, carried over to the UK, Tamil observers of the scene say that this is a simplistic explanation intended as a red herring to divert police attention. They believe these violent crimes are committed by a new generation of young Tamils, most of them brought up here, trying to imitate other gangs of Asian and Caribbean origin. Mother,
daughter burnt to death Mrs. Jayasundera is reported to have been lighting the cooker when her dress had caught fire. As she was struggling to put out the fire a bottle of kerosene had toppled over and the flames had spread. Her daughter who had come to the kitchen on hearing her mother's screams had also had sustained severe burn injuries. Mrs. Jayasundera's husband who had been sick had come later. People who gathered had put out the fire and taken the daughter who was badly burnt to the Matale hospital. The mother had died on the spot while the daughter had succumbed at the hospital to her burn injuries. |
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