Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan has called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa to take action against Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna after accusing him of unleashing violence against TMVP supporters in the east.
The appeal was made when Mr. Chandrakanthan met President Rajapaksa on Thursday in Colombo. The meeting was called by Mr. Chandrakanthan soon after his party supporters were attacked on Wednesday at Thirukkovil in Akkaraipattu and a vehicle of the Chief Minister’s pool was set on fire.
TMVP spokesman Azad Moulana, who took part in the meeting with the President, said they lodged a strong protest about the attack in which three of their cadres were seriously wounded. He said they pointed out that this was not the first time their supporters and their offices had come under attack.He said they had named the person involved in the attacks and wanted action taken.
“We have been given the same assurances given earlier that action would be taken,” Mr. Moulana said.
On Wednesday a group of TMVP cadres moving towards Thirukkovil came under attack close to an SLFP office run by Karuna group members. Three persons were injured and three others reported missing, but on the following day the missing persons were traced.
A jeep belonging to the Chief Minister’s vehicle pool was sent out to locate the missing persons, but it was set on fire at Thirukkovil. A local leader of the Karuna faction was allegedly present at the time of the attack.
However, in a complaint lodged with the Akkaripattu police no names of the attackers or those involved were mentioned.
K. Pushpakumaran, better known as Innayabharathi who holds the position of SLFP coordinator for Ampara, told the Sunday Times it was the Chief minister’s cadres who initially lit crackers and threw them into the office in Thirukkovil. He said in defence, supporters of Mr. Muralitharan assaulted the TMVP cadres.He denied any involvement in the burning of the jeep saying that it was set on fire by the TMVP itself to put the blame on the Karuna faction.
These developments come in the wake of the TMVP earlier announcing that people could vote for a candidate whom they think would resolve Tamil grievances.
Earlier, the TMVP had expressed its displeasure over its inability to provide jobs for the youth and called for the removal of the Eastern Province Governor Mohan Wijewickrema.
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