By DPA
Colombo : A Tamil MP’s brother was shot dead by an unidentified man in eastern Sri Lanka, a family spokesperson said Tuesday. The killing occurred in Oaddamaavadi, a region government troops claimed to have gained full control after nearly six months of operations.
S. Thiyagachandran, 54, was returning home after work Monday evening when he was gunned down at Oaddamaavadi, 260 km east of Colombo.
Police said the attacker was yet to be identified, but family members said they believe a breakaway group of the Tamil rebels, known as Karuna, is responsible for the shooting.
The victim’s brother, S. Jeyananthamoorthy, is a member of parliament, representing the pro-Tamil rebel Tamil National Alliance and the eastern Batticaloa district. The lawmaker and his family, including two children, narrowly escaped a rocket-propelled grenade attack by the Karuna group on their home in July last year.
Government troops last month declared that they had fully captured the eastern province by driving out rebels belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but the Karuna group, which backed the military in their operations against the rebels, have remained in the area and have been permitted to carry weapons for what has been described as their “own security”.
The Karuna group – led by the LTTE’s former eastern province military wing leader V. Muralitharan, alias Karuna – broke away from the LTTE in April 2004.