Karuna takes pro-Pillaiyan cadres hostage

COLOMBO: The Karuna-Pillaiyan crisis has reached new heights with Karuna cadres running riot in Batticaloa and Ampara harassing pro-Pillaiyan cadres and their families.
Sources based in the East speaking on condition of anonymity claimed that more than 75 cadres who support Pillaiyan have been held hostage in camps under extremely deplorable conditions in Ampara and Batticaloa.
Most of the pro-Pillaiyan cadres were ‘detained’ and taken hostage when they were on their way to join Pillaiyan in Trincomalee. Pillaiyan was Karuna’s deputy before the break up.
“Karuna’s cadres have also taken hostage some 30 females, who are mothers or wives of pro-Pillaiyan cadres who have left Karuna and are now with Pillaiyan in Trincomalee,” the sources said.
The motive is to ‘get back’ Pillaiyan’s cadres who are now considered ‘traitors’ in the eyes of Karuna Amman who is also the leader of the Tamil Eela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), a registered political party in Sri Lanka.
The wife of Seelan, a close confidant of Pillaiyan, his one year old baby and mother-in-law are also held hostage. Karuna’s cadres have maintained that Seelan’s family will be released only if Seelan returns to Batticaloa and surrender himself to Karuna.
Seelan, broke ranks with Karuna following the split, but continued to support Pillaiyan and joined him in Trincomalee from where they now operate. The pro-cadres are currently kept hostage in three camps located at Govindan Road in Batticaloa, Akkaraipattu and Vakarai. Majority of the renegade cadres are held in the Vakarai camp.

(http://www.nation.lk/2007/06/03/news4.htm)