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Details of the missing persons: 1. Name:
Narayanamoorthy Kandeepan Age: 30
Marital status: Single
Address: Power Station Road, Odakkarai, Pointpedro, Jaffna
Occupation: Deminer & Tailor
2. Name: Thambaih Tharmasri Age: 28
Marital status: Married to Kandeepan’s sister
Address: Power Station Road, Odakkarai, Pointpedro, Jaffna
Occupation: Deminer
 Kandeepan studied at the Sithivinayagr School. After
sitting his GCE OL examination he started working in a tailor’s shop. There he learnt
tailoring and later started his own tailoring shop. He trained his two younger brothers to
be tailors and they were all working in his “Kandeepan Tailor Shop”.
Kandeepan helped with the matchmaking between his
sister and Tharmasri and they were married only seven months ago. Tharmasri and his
wife (Kandeepan’s sister) also live in the same house with Kandeepan, his parents and
his siblings. Kandeepan’s family said that his sister, who is pregnant, is in a state of
shock, unable to talk or eat. The villagers and indeed the people of the entire Jaffna
peninsula recognize the pattern of this abduction to several others that have happened
recently. There are good reasons for the family’s fear. None of those who have been abducted
in this manner have been found so far.
Incident
Kandeepan (30) and Tharmasri (28) live in the same house
and work for the Danish Demining Group (DDG) in Jaffna. Kandeepan and Tharmasri
both leave for work at the crack of dawn on a motorbike and return home by 2.00 pm.
It is the practice in Northeast to start demining work just before sunrise and
finish around midday so that workers do not have to stand in the hot sun all day.
On Wednesday 11th of January they left for work as usual
at 5.30 am. Occupants from their house say that they heard Kandeepaan receiving
three calls that morning. Kandeepan was heard saying that he is leaving soon.
Less than one hour later someone in the neighbourhood
brought the National Identity Card and the mobile phone belonging to Kandeepan and
handed it over at Kandeepan’s home. The neighbour said that it was found on the road.
Family went out to investigate what has happened and the following was told by several
people in the neighbourhood as witnessed by them. The attached map is useful to follow
the description given by Kandeepan’s neighbours.
Residents close to the location where Kandeepan and
Tharmasri were abducted say that they saw several Sri Lankan army (SLA) soldiers standing
on the road in that early hours of the morning just before the two men were abducted.
People said that they thought the SLA was planning an early morning roundup.
Travelers who arrived at the Nalu Juntion (A on the map)
and the VB road junction (B on the map) said that they were turned away by the SLA
preventing them from entering the strip of road between A and B. They also said that
they saw a white van parked at both these two junctions.
When Kandeepan and Tharmasri were traveling on this
strip of road between Odakkarai junction and VB Road junction (B) there were no other
civilians on that strip of road except the SLA soldiers who were roaming.
According to the residents on this strip of road they
heard noises and voices. When they attempted to look out the SLA threatened them to keep
inside. Kandeepan and Tharmasri were then forced into the white van while the two
resisted the attempt. As the white van drove away with the two men Kandeepan had thrown his
National Identity Card, his mobile phone and other belongings that were in his
pocket on the road.
As soon as the two men were abducted in the white van
the SLA soldiers, manning the road, started walking back to their camp shown on the
map. Residents saw the soldiers walking back.
Other people have told the family that they saw the
white van driving to the military camp in the Pallapai high security zone.
When the family went to lodge a complaint at the police
station (see map) and told the police what they have heard from the residents, the
police there have asked the family for evidence that the two men were abducted. Later they also
suggested that someone else may have abducted the two men.
Dr N Malathy (NESOHR Secretary) |
