Two Jaffna principals gunned down by LTTE
 

by Ranil Wijayapala and Thakshila Jayasekara

Suspected LTTE pistol gang members yesterday gunned down Jaffna Central College Principal Kanapathy Rajadurai (58), a strong critic of LTTE child conscription.

He was on his way to the Jaffna Weerasingham hall to attend a cultural show when he was fatally shot, Military sources told the Daily news yesterday.

Rajadurai had been at the helm of the Central College, one of the oldest schools in Sri Lanka, for the last 10 years. He was the father of one child.

The incident took place just 20 hours after suspected LTTE pistol group men gunned down Kopay Christian College Principal N. Sivakadadchan, another fierce opponent of child conscription.

Rajadurai was reported to have been shot at by the unidentified gunmen near the gate of the Weerasingham Hall while he was riding his motorcycle in that direction to attend the cultural show organised by the Jaffna Divisional Secretariat. The Hall is only a short distance away from the school.

According to the sources, audience at Weerasingham Hall had heard gunfire from the gate around 3.45 p.m.

"No one seemed to have seen the perpetrators," a military official added.

Rajadurai succumbed to his injuries around 5 p.m. at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.

Sivakadadchan was shot at his residence in Manipay, Kopay around 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Schoolchildren in Kopay had protested the killing yesterday, blocking roads and shouting slogans. According to the sources, both school principals have firmly stood against child conscription by the LTTE in Jaffna. Unconfirmed reports said that the principal of the Jaffna Central College had close contacts with the EPDP solely for improving education facilities (EPDP leader Douglas Devananda is the Minister in charge of Tamil Language Schools) and that had led to his death at the hands of the LTTE.

Coincidentally, the killings took place on the 20th anniversary of the murder of E. Anandarajah, Principal of St. John's College, Jaffna by the LTTE.

Jaffna Police are conducting investigations.