Politicians and non-governmental organisations have expressed serious concern over the “deterioration” of law and order in the northern districts.
Sri Lanka's main opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe demanded in Parliament that an all party delegation should be sent to Jaffna to assess the situation. Traditional Industries and Small Enterprises Minister Douglas Devananda told Parliament on Tuesday that fear psychosis was prevailing in Jaffna.
Local newspapers have quoted the Army spokesperson as saying the incidents referred to were cases of individual enmity and that there was no organised crime or related problems in the north.
Networking for Rights (NfR), an NGO, in a statement has expressed “serious concern” about the deterioration of the law and order. “The series of killings that have taken place during the last few weeks in the Jaffna Peninsula raises the question whether death squads have been reactivated in the Jaffna Peninsula.
The latest in the series of killings is the cold blooded murder of 28-year-old Ketheeswaran Thevarajah of Jaffna on December 31. This is the fifth such killing that has taken place in Jaffna within last two weeks. None of these killings have been seriously investigated or resolved, so far,” it said and wanted the government to step up efforts to bring the situation under control.
