Northern Governor calls for report over Pallai shooting incident

Governor of Northern Province Mrs P.S.M Charles has called for a report on the recent shooting incident in Pallai where a youth was killed on Saturday. This came after various media reports shared in social media over the incident.

On Saturday evening, a motorcyclist was killed last evening at Pallai in Jaffna after soldiers opened fire when he defied orders to stop, according to the police. They said the soldiers felt he was going to knock them down and ordered him to stop. They then opened fire when he tried to flee.

Residents said the man was linked to the area’s sand mafia and had probably been sent on a surveillance mission to monitor army presence before the sand tippers moved. The victim was pronounced dead upon admission to the Pallai hospital.

Residents said sand mining activities had been on the rise after the government removed the permit system to transport sand. Soon after the shooting, some people blocked the Colombo-Kandy A9 road at Pallai and staged a protest.