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| Sunday, 17 March 2002 |
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Violence rife in North-East - TULF No official announcement has been made so far about the postponement of local government elections in the Northern and Eastern provinces, scheduled for March 25. A Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) delegation led by its Secretary General and MP for Trincomalee, R. Sampanthan, met Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at Temple Trees and requested him to postpone the elections in the North and East, claiming that the prevalent atmosphere there was not conducive for it. Mr. Sampanthan told the Sunday Observer that thuggery and intimidation by certain armed groups were rampant in the two provinces and, therefore, a free and fair election could not be held. This was why they had requested the Premier to postpone the elections, he said. 'Ravana' behind grenade attack? Police are trying to ascertain the identity of a mysterious and a shadowy organisation called "Ravana Balakaya" allegedly responsible for hurling a hand grenade, which exploded at the residence of Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne at Kirillipone last Wednesday. According to police, the hand grenade was hurled around 11 p.m. by an unknown group of persons called 'Ravana Balakaya' who had left a note saying that "Deshiya Jathiya Pavadennanta Danduwama" (those who betray the nation and the race will be punished). Moratuwa Police HQI, Chief Inspector Anura de Silva, said that they suspect the motive for the attack was Dr. Ariyaratne's involvement with the government's ongoing peace process with the LTTE. He said the Government Analyst had visited the scene of the explosion on Thursday to identify the type of grenade used in the attack and is expected to submit his findings to the police in due course. Moratuwa ASP Priyantha Weerasooriya said that it would have been catastrophical had the grenade fallen on the nearby transformer which would have caused an explosion. However, it fell and exploded between the parapet wall and a transformer inside Dr. A.T. Ariyaratna's compound without causing damage to person or property. Police said that even a bishop residing in Moratuwa area had been subjected to such threats, although he had not complained to the police about it. Meanwhile, police said the National Information Bureau (NIB) and other intelligence agencies have been alerted on this movement. O/level results before New Year? The Examination Department is expected to release the results of the GCE O/L examination held last December before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, the Sunday Observer learns. "At the moment we are doing our best. The only difficulty is the forthcoming Local Government elections. However, we are trying to release them before the Sinhala/Tamil New Year," Examination Department sources said . More than five lakhs of students sat last year's examination. |
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