EPDP won’t budge from TMVP territory

The Eelam People’s Democratic Front (EPDP) has vowed not to budge from the Eastern Province, where the breakaway LTTE faction, the TMVP, now at the helm of the Eastern Provincial Council is seeking political dominance over rivals.

An EPDP spokesman accused the TMVP of exerting pressure on its cadres deployed in the East to leave the province. Claiming that there had been a series of attacks on its men, the EPDP alleged the body of Kaliappan Gunaseelan (29) allegedly abducted by TMVP cadres on June 19 had been found by Valaichenai police. The body had been found near a pond at Vinayaakapuram.

The EPDP alleged a gang led by a person identified as Ajith had taken the father of one at gun point. At the time of the abduction, he had been on his way from the EPDP office at Kaluwankerni to get some water from a nearby well.

The EPDP accused the local police of refusing to conduct a proper investigation. The police had swiftly moved against the EPDP after the TMVP called for police assistance.

Tamil and security sources likened the TMVP’s action to that of the EPDP in the Jaffna islands. Since the EPDP had moved into Jaffna islands during Ranasinghe Premadasa’s presidency in the 1990s, it had brazenly thwarted attempts by rival Tamil parties to conduct political activity.