Colombo, July 06: Sri Lankan police today stepped up security for Scandinavian truce monitors after residents took the body of a slain rebel to their office. Armed police were deployed outside the office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in the eastern town of Batticaloa after relatives yesterday staged a peaceful protest by placing the coffin of Vairamuththu Mehanathan at the entrance to the building.
Mehanathan was gunned down by suspected Tiger rebels in Batticaloa on Friday.
Both the government and rival Tamil groups have lodged protests with the SLMM over a spate of killings blamed on the Tamil Tigers in violation of a ceasefire that has been in place since February last year.
More than 35 rivals of the Tamil Tigers, military and police personnel involved with intelligence gathering have been killed since the ceasefire and all the slayings have been blamed on the rebels. Bureau Report