President orders full probe into VC's missing

by Thava Sajitharan

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday ordered IGP Victor Perera to detail a special police team to prob into the disappearance of Prof. Sivasubramanium Ravindranath Eastern University Vice Chancellor who has gone missing since Friday afternoon.

Dr. Naveenakumar, a consultant physician in Batticaloa and brother-in-law of the VC told the Sunday Observer that Professor Ravindranath had been staying in Dehiwala with his relatives for the last 2 1/2 months.

Professor Ravindranath submitted his resignation letter to the University Grants Commission 2 1/2 months back following a threat from some unidentified group in Batticaloa. But the UGC refused to accept the resignation. Since then he has been reporting to work at the UGC in Colombo.

When Dr. Balasingam Sugumar, the Eastern University Arts Faculty Dean, was abducted on September 30 and later released by some unidentified armed men in Batticaloa, the abductors demanded the resignation of the VC for the Dean's release.

The Dean was freed after Professor Ravindranath handed over the resignation to the UGC. When contacted Dehiwala police said that a complaint was lodged by the Vice Chancellor's relatives around 10.30 p.m. on Friday in this regard.