The military believes that Karuna loyalist ex-TNA MP Kingsley Rasanayagam was killed and veteran Sea Tiger commander Thillayampalan Sivanesan alias Soosai was sent out of the country on Tuesday as part of the LTTE strategy to neutralise the dissidents.
Rasanayagam who successfully contested the Batticaloa district was asked to step down by the LTTE and his vacancy was filled by a person loyal to the group’s Vanni leadership.
The 65-year-old politician was shot dead near Kalliyankaadu cemetery as he was about to get in his car Tuesday evening less than 24 hours Soosai boarded a SriLankan airlines flight to Singapore. In our lead story yesterday P’karan gets Soosai out with govt. help, we inadvertently said Soosai took a Singapore airlines flight out of Bandaranaike International Airport.
Soosai’s unexpected departure fuelled speculation that he had agreed to an ultimatum to quit his post in return for leaving the country, at least temporarily. "We believe a similar offer was made to Karuna but he rejected that," an authoritative military official said. He pointed out Rasanayagam was assassinated to weaken the dissidents whose campaign had been bolstered by the actions of Karuna and his supporters.
The military believes Rasanayagam was attacked by two LTTE cadres identified as Jegan and Shuti. "One of them fired at Rasanayagam as he was about to leave a worksite situated near the cemetery. He succumbed to his injuries before he was admitted to the Batticaloa government hospital," he said.
Tuesday’s attack was the first major political killing since a wave of LTTE attacks in the run-up to the last parliamentary elections in April.
This is what European Union Election Observation Mission said in its final report: "There is a general perception that three of the five election-related murders were backed by the LTTE in an attempt to intimidate other Tamil contestants. For example on March 30, a TNA candidate who supported Karuna was killed together with his brother in-law in Batticaloa. On the same day, the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture of the Eastern University who supported the interests of the eastern Tamils was seriously wounded in Batticaloa.
According to the EU mission, there were two primary reasons for LTTE attacks, "firstly the LTTE intended that no other rival Tamil party (or Tamil candidate from the mainstream political alliances) to the TNA would be able to claim to represent Tamil interests. A chilling message to this effect was sent early in the campaign when a UNP candidate was assassinated."
