Lest We Forget

Lest We Forget 

Massacres of Tamils 

1956 - 2001 

Part I 

NESOHR 

Karadipokku Junction 

Kilinochchi 

Sri Lanka

Lest we forget – Massacres of Tamils 1956 2002 



1956 - 2001 

Part I 

NESOHR 


Kilinochchi 

Sri Lanka 

Report by NESOHR, 

Information Collected by SNE 

ii


This Book is Dedicated to the 

Thousands of Tamils who lost their life at the hands of the 

Sri Lankan State’s Armed Forces 



iii




1956 - 2001 

Part I 

Report by 

North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) 


Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka 

nesohr2006@hotmail.com 

www.nesohr.org 

0094 21 228 5986 

Information Collected by 

Statistical Centre for North East (SNE) 

A9 Road, Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka 

snepvtltd@gmail.com 

0094212283952 

First Edition in Tamil - 2005 

First Edition in English - 2007 

Copy Right 

Permission is granted to reproduce parts of this publication, for noncommercial 

purposes, without modification and with due 

acknowledgement to NESOHR. 



iv


Abbreviations 

ID – National identity card 

Kfir – Israeli made aerial bomber planes 

LTTE – Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 

NESOHR – North-East Secretariat On Human Rights 

SLA – Sri Lankan Army 

SLAF – Sri Lankan Air Force 

SLAFs – Sri Lankan Armed Forces 

SLFP – Sri Lankan Freedom Party 

SLN – Sri Lankan Navy 

SNE – Statistical Centre for North East 

UNP – United National Party 



v


Introduction 

The State sponsored violence against the Tamil people in the island of Sri 

Lanka has a very long history. A startling aspect of this State violence is 

the large scale massacres of Tamils. Some of them are so spectacular that 

they are etched in the Tamil psyche. Prior to the signing of the February 

2002 ceasefire agreement, there have been hundreds of such massacres. 

After a two year lull, the violent campaign by the military was relaunched 

in 2004. This report documents a selected number the massacres 

prior to the signing of the ceasefire agreement in 2002. Recording the 

massacres carried out since 2004 will be a separate project. 

Each of the selected massacres is described briefly. The circumstances 

surrounding the massacre and an eyewitness account is provided where 

ever possible. It is important to remember that the eye witnesses only 

report what they saw. In reality one eye witness sees only a small part of 

the larger atrocity that is planned and carried out by the State forces. 

A map is also included in the description of each massacre pinpointing the 

exact location of the incident. In many instances the local people 

remember the massacre by building a monument for those killed. Pictures 

of some of these monuments are also included in the pages. Names of 

those killed included in the last pages – (Page192 – Page237). 

In order to report on the true context of each massacre a more in depth 

study requiring time and resources that currently the war torn Tamil 

community does not have is needed. Such an intensive task must be 

undertaken in the near future in order to set straight the distorted recent 

history of this island. Two such studies have been published by 

NESOHR. One is on the Mandaithivu disappearance in 1990 and the 

other is on the Piramanthanaru massacre. They can be downloaded from 

the NESOHR website. It is fair to say that even these reports are not 

complete in that it has not reported on each and every disappearance and 

killing by the State forces in that particular massacre. Such is the scale 

and cruelty of the State’s violations. 

What follows is only a small step towards shining light on the blacked out 

human rights history of the Tamil people in the island of Sri Lanka. 



vi


Background 

As the instances of large scale massacres reported in this book 

demonstrates, Tamil were subjected to ethnic cleansing by the Sri Lankan 

State long before a single shot was fired by a Tamil militant against the 

Sri Lankan State’s armed forces. Massacres were only a part of the ethnic 

cleansing program carried out by the Sri Lankan State against the Tamils. 

Huge swaths of land that traditionally belonged to the Tamils were settled 

by Sinhala people who were brought there from far away places in the 

Sinhala areas. Tamils were disenfranchised en masse and stripped of their 

language rights. The list goes on. 

The problems came to the fore after the British colonial powers withdrew 

from the island in 1948 giving it a unitary constitution. In effect this 

constitution handed over the power to the Sinhala majority. It is this 

unitary constitution and the power in the hands of the Sinhalese that lead 

to the unrestrained violence against the Tamils and large scale violations 

of their basic human rights. 

The island was under three consecutive colonial rulers the Portuguese, 

Dutch and the British since the 16 th century. Documented history during 

these three periods reveals that the colonial rulers maintained a separation 

of the Tamil and Sinhala communities in their administrative systems. 

This separation was eventually eroded by the final constitution left by the 

last colonial ruler, Britain. This constitution was opposed by the Tamils 

even at that time. 

The first victims of the Sinhala majoritarianism were the Tamil plantation 

workers in the central regions of the island. These Tamils were brought 

from India by the British colonial rulers to work in the tea plantations that 

they have started. A million of this working people, contributing to the 

prosperity of the island for more than a century, were disenfranchised by 

an infamous law in 1949. 

This was soon followed by the ‘Sinhala only’ Language Act that made the 

Tamil speaking people stripped of their right to use their language in their 

jobs, in their courts, and in their communications with the State. The 

sense of alienation from the State was further intensified when Tamils 

were faced with discrimination in education and jobs as well. 

Since the British left the island, Tamil political representatives have 

negotiated with successive governments to draw up new models of 



vii


governance that will give some powers to the Tamil areas to manage their 

own affairs. However, the two major political parties that dominated the 

politics of the Sinhala people fed on the anti-Tamil sentiments of the 

Sinhala people to gain votes among them. In other words whenever the 

party in power came to a negotiated agreement with Tamil representatives 

for power sharing, the Sinhala party in opposition would whip up the 

animosity of the Sinhala people against the Tamils forcing the party in 

power to abrogate the agreement. 

This violence, land grab, discrimination and abrogated agreements lead 

the Tamil youth of the 1970’s to take up arms to fight for the 

independence of Tamileelam. The thirty year history since the armed 

struggle was launched by the Tamil youth for an independent Tamileelam 

is also scattered with many peace negotiations between the Sri Lankan 

Government and the Tamil political and militant groups. All of them also 

broke down due to the intransigence of the Sinhala leaders and their 

polity. The struggle by the Tamils for self determination continues. 

The history of the Tamil and Sinhala people prior to the arrival of the 

colonial powers more than 500 years ago, is marred in controversy. At the 

root of this confusion is a Sinhala Buddhist text called Mahavamsa, 

written about 600 years ago. Early western historians, in the absence of 

any other evidence, taking much of this text to be true, propagated 

theories based on them. This text was further reinterpreted in the 20 th 

century by Buddhist revivalists. In their reinterpretation the Tamil 

presence in the island was relegated as late coming invaders and it also 

elevated the Sinhala people as the rightful owners of the island. This has 

had profound effect on the thinking of the contemporary Sinhala people 

leading to their intransigence to share power with the Tamils. 

Recent archeological research in the Tamil homeland has thrown much 

light on the presence of a civilization in this island several millenniums 

ago and predating the arrival of Buddhism in this island. This 

archeological evidence show much in common with what has been 

unearthed in Tamilnadu in India. They have demonstrated the presence of 

Tamil people in this island for several millenniums. A lot more linguistic 

and archeological research needs to be done to map the development of 

the Tamil and Sinhala people as well as the Muslim people in this island. 

However, there is no doubt that the Tamil and Sinhala peoples lived in 

this island for several thousand years. 



viii


Method of Data Collection 

The data collection project was started after the signing of the ceasefire 

agreement in 2002 which allowed relatively free access to all areas of 

Northeast. 

The questioner used to collect data is a table printed over both sides of a 

large sheet of paper with 21 columns in it. Data on each affected person is 

entered in one row. The columns in the table are, 

1) Row number; 2) Full name of informant; 3) Full name of affected 

person; 4) Relationship to informant; 5) Age of the affected person at the 

time of incident; 6)Sex; 7) Permanent address; 8) Temporary address; 

9)Location of incident; 10)Year of incident; 11)Occupation of the 

affected person at the time of incident; 12) Number of dependents on the 

affected person under the age of 18 at that time; 13) Incident on Land or 

Sea; 14) In what form the person is affected; 15) What type of violence 

was used; 16) Offender; 17) Occasion of arrest; 18) Occasion of 

disappearance; 19) Type of limb lost; 20) Other type of injury; 21) 

Notes. 

Data collectors were employed on contract basis. A university graduate 

was appointed as the coordinator for each district. Permission was 

obtained from the District Secretariat (Kachcheri) and the help of the 

Grama Sevakar was sought to ensure all households were covered. In 

addition, the team for each village had at least one person from that 

village as additional method of ensuring no household in the village is 

missed in the data collection. 

In addition to collecting the above data affidavits were collected from 

families where the affected person has either died or disappeared. 



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A word of caution to the readers 

Large scale displacement had taken place among the Tamil community 

since the late 1970’s. 

The data collection based on which this report is written did not include 

those who have moved to places outside Northeast, many of whom are in 

fact living as refugees in other countries. 

Also missing are information about families that were killed en masse 

because no one is left in the villages to report about them. 

Given these two shortcomings in the data collection, what is described 

in this report is not a complete document about the large scale 

massacres of Tamil people committed by the SLAFs prior to the 2002 

ceasefire agreement. 



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Table of Contents 

1. Inginiyakala massacre ‐ 05.06.1956 ............................................ 1 

2. 1958 pogrom ............................................................................... 1 

3. Tamil research conference massacre ‐10.01.1974........................ 2 

4. 1977 communal pogrom ............................................................. 3 


6. Burning of the Jaffna library ‐01.06.1981 .................................... 4 


8. Thirunelveli massacre ‐ 24, 25.07.1983 ........................................ 7 

9. Sampalthoddam massacre ‐ 1984 ............................................... 8 

10. Chunnakam Police station massacre ‐08.01.1984........................ 8 

11. Chunnakam market massacre ‐ 28.03.1984 ................................. 9 

12. Mathawachchi – Rampawa ‐ September 1984 ............................ 9 

13. Point Pedro – Thikkam massacre ‐ 16.09.1984 .......................... 10 

14. Othiyamalai massacre ‐ 01.12.1984 .......................................... 10 

15. Kumulamunai massacre ‐ 02.12.1984 ........................................ 11 

16. Cheddikulam massacre ‐ 02.12.1984 ......................................... 11 

17. Manalaru massacre ‐ 03.12.1984 .............................................. 12 

18. Blood soaked Mannar ‐ 04.12.1984 ........................................... 12 

19. Kokkilai‐Kokkuthoduvai massacre ‐ 15.12.1984 ........................ 13 

20. Vankalai church massacre ‐ 06.01.1986 ..................................... 13 

21. Mulliyavalai massacre ‐ 16.01.1985 .......................................... 14 

22. Vaddakandal massacre ‐ 30.01.1985 ......................................... 15 

23. Puthukkidiyiruppu Iyankovilady massacre 21.04.1985 .............. 17 

24. Trincomalee massacres in 1985 ................................................. 18 

25. Valvai‐85 massacre 10.05.1985 ................................................. 18 

26. Kumuthini Boat massacre 15.05.1985 ....................................... 19 



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27. Kiliveddi massacre in 1985 ........................................................ 21 

28. Thiriyai massacre ‐ 08.06.1985 .................................................. 22 

29. Sampaltivu ‐ 04 to 09.08.1985 ................................................. 22 

30. Veeramunai massacre ‐ 20.06.1990 .......................................... 23 

31. Nilaveli massacre 16.09.1985 .................................................... 26 

32. Piramanthanaru massacre ‐ 02.10.1985 .................................... 27 

33. Kanthalai‐85 massacre ‐ 09.11.1985 .......................................... 29 

34. Muthur Kadatkaraichenai ‐ 08, 09, 10.11.1985 ......................... 29 

35. Periyapullumalai massacre in 1986 ........................................... 29 

36. Kilinochchi Railway Station massacre ‐ 25.01.1986 ................... 30 

37. Udumbankulam massacre ‐ 19.02.1985 .................................... 31 

38. Vayaloor massacre ‐ 24.08.1985 ............................................... 32 

39. Eeddimurinchan massacre ‐ 19, 20.03.1986 ............................... 34 

40. Anandapuram shelling ‐ 04.06.1986 .......................................... 34 

41. Kanthalai‐86 massacre ‐ 04, 05.06. 1986 ................................... 35 

42. Mandaithivu sea massacre ‐ 10.06.1986 ................................... 35 

43. Seruvila massacre ‐ 12.06.1986 ................................................. 36 

44. Thambalakamam massacres ‐ 1985, 1986 ................................. 36 

45. Paranthan farmers massacre ‐ 28.06.1986 ................................ 37 

46. Peruveli refugee camp massacre ‐ 15.07.1986 ........................... 38 

47. Thanduvan bus massacre ‐ 17.07.1986 ...................................... 39 

48. Mutur Manalchenai massacre ‐ 18.07. 1986 .............................. 40 

49. Adampan massacre ‐ 12.10.1986 .............................................. 40 

50. Periyapandivrichchan massacre ‐ 15.10.1986 ............................ 41 

51. Kokkadichcholai‐87 massacre ‐ 28.01.1987 ............................... 41 

52. Paddithidal massacre ‐ 26.04.1987 ............................................ 43 

53. Thonithiddamadu massacre ‐ 27.05.1987 .................................. 44 

54. Alvai temple shelling ‐ 29.05.1987 ............................................. 44 



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55. Eastern University massacre ‐ 23.05.1990 ................................. 45 

56. Sammanthurai massacre ‐ 10.06.1990 ...................................... 45 

57. Xavierpuram massacre ‐ 07.08.1990 ......................................... 46 

58. Siththandy massacre ‐ 20, 27.07.1990 ....................................... 47 

59. Paranthan junction massacre ‐ 24.07.1990 ................................ 48 

60. Poththuvil massacre ‐ 30.07.1990 ............................................. 49 

61. Tiraikerny massacre ‐ 06.08.1990 .............................................. 49 

62. Kalmunai massacre ‐ 11.08.1990 ............................................... 52 

63. Thuranilavani massacre ‐ 12.08.1990 ........................................ 52 

64. Eravur hospital massacre ‐ 12.08.1990 ...................................... 53 

65. Koraveli massacre 14.08.1990 ................................................... 53 

66. Nelliyadi market bombing ‐ 29.08.1990 ..................................... 54 

67. Eravur massacre ‐ 10.10.1990 ................................................... 54 

68. Saththurukkondan massacre ‐ 09.09.1990 ................................ 55 

69. Natpiddymunai massacre ‐ 10.09.1990 ..................................... 56 

70. Vantharamullai‐90 massacre ‐ 05, 23,09,1990 .......................... 56 

71. Mandaithivu disappearances ‐ 23.08.1990, 25.09.1990 ............. 59 

72. Oddisuddan bombing ‐ 27.11.1990 ............................................ 62 

73. Puthukkudiyiruppu junction bombing ....................................... 62 

74. Vankalai massacre ‐ 17.02.1991 ................................................ 63 

75. Vaddakkachchi bombing ‐ 28.02.1991 ....................................... 63 

76. Vantharumoolai ‐ 09.06.1991 .................................................... 64 

77. Kokkadichcholai‐91 massacre ‐ 12.06.1991 ............................... 64 

78. Pullumalai massacre ‐ 1983‐1990 .............................................. 65 

79. Kinniyadi massacre ‐ 12.07.1991 ............................................... 67 

80. Akkarayan hospital massacre ‐ 15.07.1997 ............................... 68 

81. Uruthrapuram bombing ‐ 04.02.1991 ........................................ 68 

82. Karapolla‐Muthgalla massacre ‐ 29.04.1992 ............................. 69 



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83. Vattrapalai shelling ‐ 18.05.1992 .............................................. 69 

84. Thellipalai temple bombing ‐ 30.05.1992 .................................. 70 

85. Mailanthai massacre ‐ 09.08.1992 ............................................ 70 

86. Kilali massacre ‐1992, 1993 ....................................................... 71 

87. Maaththalan bombing ‐ 18.09.1993 .......................................... 73 

88. Chavakachcheri‐Sangaththanai bombing ‐ 28.09.1993 ............. 73 

89. Kokuvil temple massacre & bombing ‐ 29.09.1993 .................... 74 

90. Kurunagar church bombing ‐ 13.11.1993 ................................... 74 

91. Chundikulam‐94 massacre ‐ 18.02.1994 .................................... 75 

92. Navali church massacre ‐ 09.07.1995 ........................................ 75 

93. Nagarkovil bombing ‐ 22.05.1995 ............................................. 77 

94. Chemmani mass graves in 1996 ................................................ 77 

95. Kilinochchi town massacre ‐ 1996‐1998 ..................................... 78 

96. Kumarapuram massacre ‐ 11.02.1996 ....................................... 79 

97. Nachchikuda strafing ‐ 16.03.1996 ............................................ 80 

98. Thambirai market bombing ‐ 17.05.1996 .................................. 80 

99. Mallavi bombing ‐ 24.07.1996 ................................................... 81 

100. Pannankandy massacre ‐ 05.07.1997 ........................................ 81 

101. Kaithady Krishanthi massacre ‐ 07.09.1996 ............................... 83 

102. Vavunikulam massacre ‐ 26‐09‐1996, 15‐08‐1997 ..................... 84 

103. Konavil bombing ‐ 27.09.1996 ................................................... 85 

104. Mullivaikal bombing ‐ 13.05.1997 ............................................. 86 

105. Mankulam shelling ‐ 08.06.1997 ............................................... 86 

106. Thampalakamam‐98 massacre ‐ 01.02.1998 ............................. 86 

107. Old Vaddakachchi bombing ‐ 26.03.1998 .................................. 87 

108. Suthanthirapuram massacre ‐ 10.06.1998 ................................. 87 

109. Visuvamadhu shelling ‐ 25.11.1998 ........................................... 88 

110. Chundikulam‐98 bombing 02.12.1998 ....................................... 89 



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111. Manthuvil bombing ‐ 15.09.1999 .............................................. 89 

112. Palinagar bombing and shelling ‐ 03.09.1999 ............................ 90 

113. Madhu church massacre ‐ 20.11.1999 ....................................... 90 

114. Bindunuwewa massacre ........................................................... 91 

115. Mirusuvil massacre ‐ 19.12.2000 ............................................... 93 

Names of those killed 

1. Tamil research conference massacre ‐10.01.1974 .............. 96 

2. Thirunelveli massacre ‐24, 25.07.1983 ............................... 96 

3. Chunnakam Police station massacre ‐ 08.01.1984 .............. 96 

4. Chunnakam market massacre ‐ 28.03.1984 ....................... 96 

5. Othiyamalai massacre ‐ 01.12.1984 .................................. 96 

6. Kumulamunai massacre ‐ 02.12.1984 ................................ 97 

7. Blood soaked Mannar ‐ 04.12.1984 ................................... 97 

8. Mulliyavalai massacre ‐ 16.01.1985 ................................... 98 

9. Vaddakandal massacre ‐ 30.01.1985 ................................. 98 

10. Udumbankulam massacre ‐ 19.02.1985 ............................. 99 

11. Puthukkidiyiruppu Iyankovilady massacre ‐ 21.04.1985 ... 100 

12. Kumuthini Boat massacre 15.05.1985 .............................. 100 

13. Nilaveli massacre 16.09.1985 ........................................... 101 

14. Piramanthanaru massacre ‐ 02.10.1985 ........................... 101 

15. Vankalai church massacre ‐ 06.01.1986 ........................... 102 

16. Thambalakamam massacres ‐ 1985, 1986 ........................ 102 

17. Kilinochchi Railway Station massacre ‐ 25.01.1986 .......... 102 

18. Eeddimurinchan massacre ‐ 19, 20.03.1986 ...................... 102 

19. Anandapuram shelling ‐ 04.06.1986 ................................. 102 

20. Mandaithivu sea massacre ‐ 10.06.1986 ......................... 103 

21. Paranthan farmers massacre ‐ 28.06.1986 ....................... 103 

22. Thanduvan bus massacre ‐ 17.07.1986 ............................. 103 



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23. Adampan massacre ‐ 12.10.1986 ..................................... 104 

24. Periyapandivrichchan massacre ‐ 15.10.1986 ................... 104 

25. Kokkadichcholai‐87 massacre ‐ 28.01.1987 ...................... 104 

26. Paddithidal massacre ‐ 26.04.1987 ................................... 106 

27. Alvai temple shelling ‐ 29.05.1987.................................... 106 

28. Sammanthurai massacre ‐ 10.06.1990 ............................. 107 

29. Veeramunai massacre ‐ 20.06.1990 ................................. 107 

30. Paranthan junction massacre ‐ 24.07.1990 ...................... 111 

31. Poththuvil massacre ‐ 30.07.1990 .................................... 111 

32. Tiraikerny massacre ‐ 06.08.1990 ..................................... 113 

33. Nelliyadi market bombing ‐ 29.08.1990 ........................... 114 

34. Natpiddymunai massacre ‐ 10.09.1990 ............................ 115 

35. Vantharamullai‐90 massacre ‐ 05, 23,09,1990 ................. 115 

36. Saththurukkondan massacre ‐ 09.09.1990 ....................... 117 

37. Mandaithivu disappearances ‐ 23.08.1990, 25.09.1990 .... 121 

38. Oddisuddan bombing ‐ 27.11.1990 ................................... 122 

39. Puthukkudiyiruppu junction bombing ‐ 30‐01‐1991 .......... 122 

40. Uruthrapuram bombing ‐ 04.02.1991 ............................... 123 

41. Vankalai massacre ‐ 17.02.1991 ....................................... 123 

42. Vaddakkachchi bombing ‐ 28.02.1991 .............................. 123 

43. Vattrapalai shelling ‐ 18.05.1992 ..................................... 123 

44. Thellipalai temple bombing ‐ 30.05.1992 ......................... 124 

45. Kilali massacre ‐1992, 1993 .............................................. 124 

46. Maaththalan bombing ‐ 18.09.1993 ................................. 125 

47. Chavakachcheri‐Sangaththanai bombing ‐ 28.09.1993 ... 126 

48. Kurunagar church bombing ‐ 13.11.1993 ......................... 126 

49. Chundikulam‐94 massacre ‐ 18.02.1994 .......................... 126 

50. Navali church massacre ‐ 09.07.1995 ............................... 127 



xvi


51. Nagarkovil bombing ‐ 22.09.1995 .................................... 130 

52. Nachchikuda strafing ‐ 16.03.1996 ................................... 131 

53. Thambirai market bombing ‐ 17.05.1996 ......................... 132 

54. Mallavi bombing ‐ 24.07.1996 .......................................... 132 

55. Pannankandy massacre ‐ 05.07.1997 ............................... 133 

56. Kaithady Krishanthi massacre ‐ 07.09.1996 ...................... 133 

57. Vavunikulam massacre ‐ 26‐09‐1996, 15‐08‐1997 ............ 133 

58. Konavil bombing ‐ 27.09.1996 .......................................... 134 

59. Mullivaikal bombing ‐ 13.05.1997 .................................... 134 

60. Mankulam shelling ‐ 08.06.1997 ...................................... 135 

61. Thampalakamam‐98 massacre ‐ 01.02.1998 .................... 135 

62. Old Vaddakachchi bombing ‐ 26.03.1998 ......................... 135 

63. Suthanthirapuram massacre ‐ 10.06.1998 ........................ 136 

64. Visuvamadhu shelling ‐ 25.11.1998 .................................. 137 

65. Palinagar bombing and shelling ‐ 10.06.1998 .................. 138 

66. Manthuvil bombing ‐ 15.09.1999 ..................................... 138 

67. Madhu church massacre ‐ 20.11.1999 .............................. 139 

68. Mirusuvil massacre ‐ 19.12.2000 ...................................... 141 



xvii

1. Inginiyakala massacre 05.06.1956 

In the 1940s, the Minister of 

Agriculture at that time created 

several Sinhala settlements in the 

Amparai district using state funds. 

The minister created the Galoya 

development scheme in the 

Amparai district and the Kantalai 

and Allai development scheme in 

the Trincomalee district and brought 

Sinhala settlers for these schemes 

from other districts. They were 

given several incentives. Police and military protection were given as well. Buddhist 

temples were built and big bells were fixed to these temples. An arbitrary 

declaration was made that wherever the ringing of these bells could be heard are 

lands belonging to Sinhala Buddhist people. In this land grab, land belonging to 

Tamils and Muslims were confiscated. 

Thikavabi is a Sinhala settlement created in this manner. In the parliamentary 

elections of 1956, S W R D Bandaranayake was elected as the new prime minister. 

He submitted to the parliament the Sinhala Only law which was his campaign 

promise. The main Tamil political party of that time decided to protest this law 

peacefully. On 05.06.1956, it launched a Satyagragha protest in front of the old 

parliament building in the Gale Face beach in Colombo. Tamil politicians from all 

political parties joined in this protest. Fr Thaninayagam, a priest and a world 

famous Tamil language expert also joined the protest. 

This protest was attacked by Sinhala thugs on that same day it was launched. 

Following this attack shops in Colombo owned by Tamils were looted and then the 

shops were burnt down. Tamil people were attacked. Echoing this violence, pogrom 

against Tamils broke out throughout the island. In the Amparai district the recently 

settled Sinhala thugs started violent attacks against the Tamils. 150 Tamils working 

in a sugar cane farm and factory in Inginiyagala under the Galoya scheme were 

killed. The bodies of the dead and injured were thrown on a fire. 

This is the first large scale massacre of Tamil in the island and many more followed 

over the following decades. The book “Emergency 58” by Tarzi Vittachi stated that 

150 Tamils were killed in this pogrom. 

2. 1958 pogrom 

In 1956, peaceful portests by Tamils in Colombo, against the Sinhala Only Act that 

was recently in passed by the parliament, was attacked by Sinhala mobs. Tamils 

followed this protest with a long march to Trincomalee and held a large meeting. At 

this meeting some demands were placed for the Sri Lankan government regarding 

equal status for Tamil language and re the development of Tamil areas. It was after


this the Banda-Chelvanayagam pact was signed. This was quickly abrogated when 

the opposition party, the UNP, launched an anti-Tamil campaign. 

In May 1958, plans were ahead for one of the Tamil Political Party conference to be 

held in Vavuniya. Tamils travelling by train from Batticaloa and Amparai for the 

conference were attacked by Sinhala mobs in Polonnaruwa. Following this incident, 

further violence against Tamils were let loose throughout the island. 

Women were raped and Tamil property was damaged. A priest was burnt alive 

inside his Kathirvelayutha temple in Pananthura. The Sri Lankan government 

looked on as the violence against Tamils continued. Many Tamil homes were set 

alight. Babies were dropped in hot tar. 

Well known journalist Tarzi Vittachchi wrote the famous book, Emergency 58, 

about this pogramme after he was expelled from the country. 

More than 300 Tamils were killed in this pogromme 

3. Tamil research conference massacre 10.01.1974 

Tamils were preparing on a grand 

scale to hold a Tamil Research 

conference in Jaffna during 3-10 

January in 1974. The government of 

Sri Lanka at that time did not like 

holding this Tamil research 

conference in Jaffna. The 

government continued to place 

hurdles to the organizers in Colombo 

and also in Jaffna through the Mayor 

of Jaffna. Permission to construct the 

open air platforms for the conference was held back until the very last minute. 

Many researchers who wanted to travel to Jaffna for the conference from other 

countries were refused visa. 

In spite of these hurdles, the conference organizers and the Tamil people were 

determined to persist with the arrangements. Seeing the support of the Tamil people 

for holding the conference the 

government came down a little 

and issued visas to a limited 

number of researchers. 

The President of the conference 

organizing committee, 

Thambaih, did not like holding 

the conference in Jaffna. He, 

therefore, resigned from his post. 

Prof Vidhyanandan took over the 

responsibility of the President. The conference started on 3 January. Hundreds of 

thousands of people from different parts of Jaffna came into town to attend the 



2


conference. Conference proceeded on a grand scale. No conferences of the past were 

conducted in such a scale and with such enthusiasm. The entire Jaffna town was in 

festival mood. 

10 January was being celebrated as the final day of the conference. The last item 

was speeches made by experts in Tamil language about the greatness of the 

language and the culture based on it. Prof Naina Mohammad from Tamilnadu in 

India was delivering the final speech. At that instant, the police lead by the Deputy 

Inspector of Police for Jaffna, Chandrasekara, started to attack the people at the 

conference. The police also opened fire. Nine civilians were killed, the stages were 

destroyed. The same Inspector of Police Chandrasekara was later promoted to the 

post of Inspector of Police by the then Prime Minister Srimavo Bandaranayaka. 

4. 1977 communal pogrom 

In the July 1977 parliamentary elections the United National Party received a 

landslide victory capturing 5/6 of the parliamentary seats amounting to 140 seats. 

The party that was in government, the SLFP, received only 8 seats. Tamil Allaiance 

group campaigning on an election platform of working towards an independent 

Tamil Eelam state won 18 seats by receiving the vast majority of the Tamil votes. 

This was not well received by the Sinhala polity. 

In was in this context that the Sri Lankan police in Jaffna was pulled up by the 

public for sexual harassment of school girls at a school exhibition. Armed police 

later arrived at the scene in large numbers and began threatening people. 

Following this, the Jaffna-Colombo and the Colombo-Jaffna night mail trains were 

attacked when it stopped at the Anuradhapuram railway station. Follwing these 

attacks, violence against Tamils spread through out the island. Tamils in 

Trincomalee, Vavuniya, Ratmalana, Badhulla and Colombo were badly affected. 

Tamil Alliance members of parliament raised the violence in parliament. Yet, the 

then Presisndet in Colombo J R Jayawardhana did not even declare curfew or 

emergency. He said that he does not like to rule the country under an Emergency 

Regulation. 

The Sansoni Commission investigated the 1977 communal violence and submitted 

its report in 1980. The Sansoni commission reported that the police acted 

irresponsibly during the violence. Sansoni report said that more than 300 civilians 

were killed during this pogrom. However, statistics collected by other nongovernmental 

organizations put the number killed at more than 1500. These reports 

also said that many were injured with knife, iron bars, and logs. The report 

recommended compensation to the victims. It said, “Incidents which occurred 

during the specified period were of such an extreme nature and so widespread that 

an exception should be made as regards the payment of compensation”. The 

committee appointed by the government on this recommendation to assess the 

compensation never sat. 



3



This pogrom surrounds the events in which the Jaffna library was burnt down with 

its irreplacable book. It was during a period of election campaign. Miniters of the 

then UNP government, Gamini Tissanayake and Cyril Mathew were in Jaffna. A 

large police force was brought to Jafna together with many Sinhala thugs. These 

thus were accomomadated in the Jaffna Thuriappa Stadium. 

At an election campaign meeting on 31.05.1981, in Jaffna, a Sinhala police was 

killed. Following this the police set fire to the Nachchimar Temple outside of which 

the campaign meeting was taking place. 

Following this the police burnt down the large Jaffna market building with shops 

and stocks. Many statues representing Tamil culture were destroyed. The memorial 

built for those killed in the Tamil Research Conference was also destroyed. 

The thugs went into the home of Member of Parliament, Yogeswaran, and inquired 

about the location of his house. Realising what the thugs were after, Yogeswaran, 

escaped through the back door with his family. His house was burnt by the Sinhala 

thugs. Yogeswaran in a statement published in India Today of June 1981 said that 

those who burnt down his house were Sinhalese. The same thugs burnt down the 

office of the Tamil Alliance party. Several other homes and public buildings were 

set alight. 

The Jaffna library was burnt the day after the above arson. Rev Fr Thaveethu, who 

watched the Jaffna library burning from the second storey of the Bishop’s House 

died of heart attack on the spot. 

6. Burning of the Jaffna library 01.06.1981 

Jaffna library was 

considered the largest 

library with the rarest 

collection of books 

and manuscripts in the 

whole of South Asia. It 

was the educational 

heritage of the people 

in the North of the 

island. It was located 

south of the Jaffna 

town on the eastern 

end of a famous sports 

ground. Close to it is the Jaffna Central College and the clock tower built during the 

British rule. 

The library housed more than 97,000 rare books and was unique in the entire island. 

For its time, it was a library well designed for study and was sought by students and 

academics as well as by foreign diplomats. 



4


On 1 June 1981 at 10.00 pm, all three 

armed forces of the Sri Lankan 

government entered the library premises 

and chased away the security guard. 

They broke open the library door and 

started burning books. A rare collection 

of 97,000 books were burnt in a few 

minutes. The building was also set alight. 

The burning of the Jaffna library is one clear example of the intent of the Sri 

Lankan government to destroy the Tamil culture in the island. 

This book burning of the rarest collection of books in South Asia must be engraved 

as a tragic episode in the human history. 


The precursors 

Local government elections were held in the Northern district of that time in May 

1983. This turned out to be a contest between the Tamil moderate party and the 

emerging Tamil nationalist sections which boycotted the elections. 98% of the 

voters boycotted. Following the elections the Sri Lankan military which by now has 

been sent in numbers to Jaffna burnt down shops in the Kandarmadam area and 

entered private homes and stole valuable properties. The troubles spread to 

Vavuniya and Tamil shops were burnt there as well. 

The worst hit was Trincomalee where during the month of June 1983, every day a 

village was attacked and at least one civilian was murdered by the military and 

Sinhala thugs supported by the military 

On 01.07.1983, many Tamil Nationalist organizations called a protest against the 

massacres in Trincomalee. A train from Colombo was burnt by Tamil militant 

youths. Two senior protest leaders, Dr Tharmalingam and Kovai Maheson, were 

arrested and taken to Colombo. Two press offices in Jaffna that of the Suthanthiran 

and Saturday Review publications were sealed off by the military. 

Using the claymore attack on 23.07.1983 in Thirunelveli that killed 13 Sri Lankan 

soldiers, as a pretext, an island wide pogrom against Tamils was let loose organized 

by the government ministers. 

In Colombo 

On Sunday 24th of July 1983 several persons boarded public and private buses in 

Colombo and began to make racist remarks designed to whip up animosity towards 

the Tamil community. Some shops belonging to Tamil traders were burnt and some 

people beaten and killed. Troubles spread quickly. By Monday morning the attacks 

has spread to several outlying areas of Colombo. Violence continued with 

increased intensity throughout Monday. Vehicles driving on the road were stopped. 

If the occupants were Tamil they were beaten and sometimes killed. Thugs with 

electoral lists in their hands went from house to house, killing Tamils and burning 



5


property owned by Tamils. The electoral lists helped them to identify Tamil houses. 

Some Sinhalese people at great risk to their own safety hid Tamil friends in their 

houses. 

Several eye witnesses including tourists have reported that the security personnel 

looked on as the violence was perpetrated. There are reports that the Army even 

threatened Police not to harass the rioters. On Monday 25th of July at 4.00 p.m. the 

government imposed curfew and this stayed in force throughout Tuesday the 26th. 

It was again imposed on 27th from 4.00 p.m. to 5.00 a.m. In spite of the curfew 

attacks on Tamil people continued through out this period. 

Rest of the island 

The communal violence against Tamils was not restricted to Colombo. Thugs 

roamed the city of Kandy looking for Tamils on the streets and in the buses. In 

Trincomalee on 26th of July, 200 houses of Tamils were burned. Violence in 

Trincomalee town has been continuing for over a month by the time the violence 

broke out in Colombo on the 23rd of July. The Trincomalee town has a Sri Lankan 

naval base. The violence against Tamils here was assisted by Sri Lankan Navy as 

well as the Army and the Police. In Jaffna on the 23rd of July, the Army went on a 

rampage shooting, on the road, in the houses and in buses killing a total of 50 

civilians. 

Welikade prison massacre 

On 25th July Sinhala prisoners attacked and murdered 35 Tamil detainees in a 

section of the Welikade prison in Colombo. Another 28 Tamil detainees in a 

different section was immediately transferred to the Youth Ward. On the 27th 

armed Sinhala prisoners scaled the walls and appeared in front of the Youth Ward. 

Dr. Rajasundaram respected for his tireless work among the downtrodden sections 

of the Tamil community was one of the detainees in the Youth ward. He came 

forward and pleaded with the attackers to spare them. Door suddenly opened and 

Dr Rajasundaram was dragged out and beaten to death. The rest of the detainees 

broke the chairs and tables and used it to keep the attackers at bay. 

ICJ report 

International Commission of Jurists issued a report on the pogrom. It was written by 

Paul Sieghart. This report suggests that the riots of July 1983 began even before the 

reports of the killing of 13 Sri Lankan soldiers in a claymore attack in Jaffna 

appeared in the local newspapers. 

Only on the fifth day, on 28th July the President of Sri Lanka appeared on 

television. In a brief address he blamed the violence and destruction exclusively on 

the reaction of "the Sinhala people" to the movement for the establishment of a 

separate Tamil state, and announced the Cabinet decision to bring in what in the 

event became the Sixth Amendment to the country's constitution. 

Following is from Paul Sieghart's report, 

``In his address to the nation on the 5th day of rioting president did not see it fit to 

utter one single word of sympathy for the victims of the violence and destruction 

which he lamented. If his concern was to reestablish communal harmony in the 



6


Island whose national unity he was anxious to preserve by law that was a 

misjudgment of monumental proportions... 

But what I find most extraordinary is that, to this day, there has been no attempt to 

find out the truth through an official, public and impartial enquiry, when the 

situation in the country cries out for nothing less.'' 

Casualty figures 

Due to the absence of any public inquiry following the riots the actual number of 

deaths and the cost of damage to property were never established. 200,000 Tamils 

were immediately rendered refugees. Tamil organizations that have carried out 

their own survey estimate that nearly 3000 Tamils were killed. All non government 

reports on the riots came to the conclusion that the violence was deliberately started 

by the government and was carried out through the use of thugs, controlled and 

organized by members of the governing United National Party. 

References: 

• Sri Lanka: A Mounting Tragedy of Error by Paul Sieghart. Report of a 

mission to Sri Lanka in January 1984 on behalf of the International 

Commission of Jurists and its British section Justice, March 1984. 

• Detention, Torture and Murder - Sri Lanka by S A David (Survivor of the 

Prison Massacre). 

• Sri Lanka Hired Thugs by Amrit Wilson in New Statesman, 26 July 1983. 

• Race \& Class Vol 26 No 4 1985 

8. Thirunelveli massacre 24, 25.07.1983 

Thirunelveli comes under the 

Nallur Assistant Government 

Agent Division in the Jaffna 

district. It is located north of the 

Jaffna town, 3 Kms from it, along 

the Palaly road. Jaffna 

University, Jaffna Technical 

College and several Government 

offices are located in 

Thirunelveli. 

On 23.07.1983 at 11.45 am, a Sri 

Lankan military vehicle on patrol came under a landmine attack on Palaly Road 

between Parameshwara Junction and Thirunelveli Junction. Thirteen Sri Lankan 

military soldiers were killed in this attack. That night and on the following day, the 

military entered the homes of civilians in Palaly Road and Sivan Amman village 

and in total they shot dead 51 people. Many homes were set alight. 



7


9. Sampalthoddam massacre 1984 

Sampalthoddam is a village three 

miles along Mannar road from 

Vavuniya town. Today this is called 

Navalarpannai. The time was early 

1984 prior to the Thimbu talks which 

was late 1984. 

A survivor who remains anonymous 

describes the event as she remembers 

it: 

“People were returning from a 

wedding in a privately hired bus. The SLA stopped the bus near Pambamadu and 

took all 70 people on the bus to a teak estate called Thekkavaththai. There, the SLA 

sent the 15 women and children who were in the bus and made the remaining 55 

men look at the teak trees and then sprayed them with bullets. 

The SLA then kicked the bodies that have fallen to see if they were still alive, those 

who made any noise in pain were shot again. One person fell to the ground in shock 

and was not hit by any of the bullets. Two of the men, who were shot, fell on top of 

him and died. He was thus lying in a pool of blood. When the SLA kicked his body 

he did not make any noise and the SLA thought he was dead too. When the SLA left, 

he ran to a village called Thalampokkanai. In this village there was a Muslim 

community leader who was very close to the Tamils and was a strong supporter of 

the LTTE. He owned a shop. The man ran to his shop and told the Muslim leader 

what has happened. From there the man went to Jaffna without telling the police, as 

he was so scared. The villagers went to the sight of the massacre and the news of 

the incident soon spread. 

I heard that the man was given protection and sent somewhere safe. I do not know 

what happened to him after that. We went and looked at the massacre sight. It was 

very close to where we were living. We noticed that there were no bodies of women 

there. The man had said that the women were made to get off the bus. We do not 

know what happened to the women. The women did not give any statements.” 

10. Chunnakam Police station massacre 08.01.1984 

Chunnakam is in the Uduvil 

Assistant Government Agent 

Division in the Jaffna district. Ten 

Kms from Jaffna town, on the KKS 

road, traveling towards 

Kankesanthurai, there is the 

Chunnakam junction. The 

Chunnakam Police station was 

located 250 metres south from this 



8


junction. 

Many young men arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act without any 

evidence against them were kept in remand in the Chunnakam Police Station. 

On 08.01.1984, during the period when Tamil militant attacks on the Sri Lankan 

military started to spread, the Police placed a time bomb in the room where the 

young men were kept and left the building. When the bomb exploded all 19 young 

men inside was killed. Sanjeevan who went in to save the young men was also 

killed. 

11. Chunnakam market massacre 28.03.1984 

Chunnakam market is situated 7 Kms 

from Jaffna town on Chunnakam 

road. This is a central market where 

most agricultural products grown in 

Jaffna, Kilinochchi and also other 

district are brought for sale. 

On 28.03.1984, Sri Lankan military 

arrived in tanks and jeeps at the 

Chunnakam market and the bus stop and started opening fire at the people crowded 

in these two places. Eight civilians were killed and about 50 were injured. The 

military set fire to the market and many shops were burnt down. 

The military then left the location and drove through Mallakam along KKS road. 

There they started shooting everyone who came within their sight. One civilian was 

killed. From here the military went to Tellipalai. There, students from the Union 

College, who were coming out of the school after writing an examination, were 

attacked. 26 students were injured in this attack. Another 20 civilians who happened 

to be on the same road were also injured. 

12. Mathawachchi – Rampawa September 1984 

Mathawachchi is located south of 

Vavuniya on the A9 road. The village 

is populated mainly by Sinhala and 

Muslim people. 

Following the 1983 pogrom against 

Tamils, Tamil passengers traveling 

from Colombo to Jaffna have been 

attacked on several occasions. 



9


One day in the first week of September 1984 a passenger bus which was going to 

Jaffna from Colombo was stopped at Mathawachchi junction by the Sri Lankan 

military and the bus with the passengers were taken to Mannar road and there 15 

civilians in the bus were killed including the driver and 31 civilians were wounded. 

13. Point Pedro – Thikkam massacre 16.09.1984 

On 16.09.1984, four Sri Lankan soldiers were 

killed in a land mine explosion. In a revenge 

attack, the Sri Lankan Police attacked and 

killed 16 civilians. Heartly College Library and 

its laboratory were burnt down. 

14. Othiyamalai massacre 01.12.1984 

This is a remote village on the border of Mullaithivu district. More or less the entire 

population worked in their own paddy fields and they had ample farming produce to 

live by. However, Sinhalese settlers were settling in Ken Farm and Dollar Farm and 

displacing the Upcountry 

Tamils in these places who 

had already been displaced 

from the Upcountry as a 

result of ethnic violence. 

From 29 th November 1984 

until 2 nd December 1984 

the SLAFs declared a 

curfew. A SLAFs regiment 

moved from Pathaviya to Othiyamalai on 1 st December 1984. The SLAFs rounded 

up the people of Othiyamalai village. When the villagers opened their door at 5.00 

am on that day, they saw the Sri Lankan soldiers standing in green attire. The 

soldiers spoke fluent Tamil and asked for all the men in the village to come to the 

Development Society building managed by the LTTE, and demanded that they 

assist the struggle waged by the LTTE. Deceived by the pretension of the Sri 

Lankan army soldiers 32 men went. 

Sithambarapillai Sagunthararasa 

otherwise known as Rasa lost his 

father and five uncles in the 

Othiyamalai Nedunkerni Massacre. 

His account is as follows: 

“On 2nd December 1984, 32 people 

were massacred here. My father and 

five of my uncles were killed. Around 

5:00 or 5:30 in the morning, the SLA came to our village. We were small children 

then. We only know what people told us, we don't remember much. My father was 



10


listening to the radio. It was only when they caught him that we realized they were 

the SLA. They caught our uncle at our house. They tore up his shirt in front of us 

and tied his hands. Like this, the SLA went in twos and threes to every house and 

caught each family head. On Pathikudippu Road, they saw a tractor. They took 

hold of the tractor and put everyone they had brought on this tractor. They tied up 

every ones hands and eyes. They shot everyone whilst the men remained still tied. 

The watching villagers told us, that they put five people, all of them over fifty years 

old in the back of a tractor. They took off the side doors of the tractor, placed them 

on top of the five old men and the soldiers then stood on top of the men singing and 

dancing as they drove away.” 

15. Kumulamunai massacre 02.12.1984 

Kumulamunai is in the 

Mullaitivu district. Farming and 

rearing livestock are the main 

occupation of the village. 

During the 1984, it was 

common for the Sri Lankan 

military to round up the 

Kumulamunai village and 

arrest people and torment them. 

On 01.10.1984, the village was 

rounded up by the Sri Lankan military and two people from the same family were 

arrested. Following this on 29.11.1984 several more villagers were arrested. 

Military released most of the people it had arrested except the four brothers of the 

two people arrested earlier and another person from Kumulamunai named Mohan. 

The families of these men persisted in seeking the release of the men. The military 

promised to release them after inquiry. On 01.12.1984, the military told the families 

that they have shot dead all seven men. 

Six of the seven men shot dead are brothers. Six of the men were married. 

16. Cheddikulam massacre 02.12.1984 

Cheddikulam is a border village in the 

Vavuniya district and is located 20 Kms 

from the Vavuniya town along the 

Vavuniya-Mannar Road. Farmers, 

business people, labourers and 

government employees live in this area. 

On 02.12.1984, the Sri Lankan military 

imposed curfew throughout Cheddikulam. The military began cordoning off the 

Cheddikulam area at 5.30am in the morning. Most of the people in the village were 



11


still asleep. The military that came into the village took the males for inquiries. 52 

men were taken in the military vehicles to the adjacent town of Mathavachchi. 

There has been no information about these 52 men since. The people of the 

Cheddikulam village are saying that the 52 men were taken to a Sinhala village in 

Mathavachchi, and there they were chopped up with sharp knives and heavy 

vehicles were run over them. As a result, the Cheddikulam villagers say all 52 men 

died. 

T Yesuthasan, teacher at Cheddikulam Mahavidhyalayam says, 

“Following the incident people displaced to Vanni, Madhu and India. Among the 

52 people killed were my younger brother, my brother-in-law and two more people 

living with us.” 

Mayilvahanam of Cheddikulam says, 

“On that day many of us ran into the forest and hid. My home was completely 

destroyed by the Sri Lankan army”!! 

! 

17. Manalaru massacre 03.12.1984 

On 03.12.1984, Sri Lankan 

military rounded up Manalaru 

area and fired randomly at the 

civilians. Civilians from 

Manalaru and Amaravayal were 

chased away by the Sri Lankan 

military and their houses were 

set on fire. People who have 

lived in the villages for 

generations were thus displaced. 

Many civilians were killed 

including women and children. Hundreds of families were displaced from these 

areas. Sinhalese were settled in these villages later. 

18. Blood soaked Mannar 04.12.1984 

Mannar is one of the eight districts of the Northeast province. 

The main occupation of the Mannar people is fishing. The 

historical Hindu temple, Thiruketheeswaram, and the famous 

Catholic Madhu church are located in this district. 

On 4 December 1984 the Sri Lankan military conducted an 

attack on the people of Nanaddan and Manthai areas in the 

district. 

On 04.12.1984, the military arrested a young man from Isaimalaithivu and were 

taking him to their camp when the military vehicle came under a landmine attack. 

There were no serious damages. The military went to its Thalladi military camp and 

started to shell civilian areas from there. 



12


The military burnt 15 men alive who were previously arrested by them. The military 

also arrested 30 more people who were traveling on the road in front of their camp 

and burnt them alive as well. People in the Mannar town were able to observe the 

smoke arising from the 45 burning bodies. 

On the same day, the military from the Thalladi and Silawaththai military camps 

rounded up several residential areas. The military that left from Mannar traveled on 

the Mathawachchi road through the villages of, Sirunavatkulam, Nochchikulam, 

Kallikkaddaikadu, Uyilankulam, Parapankandal, Uyirththarasankulam, Aththikkuli, 

Chemmanthivu, Murunkan and went up to the Madhu road. All along they attacked 

and burnt homes and offices and shot and killed people. Employees of the 

Chemmanthivu Cooperative Society and the employees of the Murunkan post office 

were killed in these atrocities. The military that left Silawaththai also carried out 

atrocities along the way. 

The military from the Thalladi camp after arriving at Madhu road stopped a bus full 

of passengers. They ordered everyone to get off the bus and all the passengers and 

the driver were shot dead. Two days after this the Bishop of Mannar and the 

Mannar Government Agent collected 90 bodies and took them to the Mannar 

hospital. More than 200 people were killed in this episode of violence by the 

military. 

19. KokkilaiKokkuthoduvai massacre 15.12.1984 


entered the villages of Kokkilai, 

Kokkuthoduvai, Karunaddukerni, Nayaru, 

Kumulamunai, and Alampil in the 

Mullaitivu district. The military killed 

many civilians and destroyed property. 

131 civilians were killed including 31 

women and 21 children. More than 2000 

families were displaced following this 

operation and they remain displaced to this date in 2006. 

20. Vankalai church massacre 06.01.1986 

Vankalai village is in the Mannar district. The Vankalai church 

served the villagers of Vankalai. 

On 06.01.1986, at 12.30 pm, military surrounded the Vankalai 

village and began shelling and continued shelling till 10.00 am 

the next day. When the military began firing in the direction of 

the residence of the church priest, Rev Mary Bastion, he came 

out in his robes with his prayer beads and begged them to stop 

shooting. The priest was shot. The military dragged his body to 



13


the front of the sister’s residents. People hiding in the first story of the church saw 

this. Many of other civilians who were running in fear were also shot and killed. 

Following this carnage the military was celebrating their achievement. The military 

then took all the dead bodies in their vehicle and left. All eight bodies except that of 

Mary Bastian were handed over to the hospital by the military. Many young men 

who were injured in the shooting were treated secretly. 

A woman eye witness from Vankalai: 

“Our house is near the Vankalai church. I was sleeping at that time. At around 

11pm I heard bullet noises all around our house. Some fell on our house. We could 

hear these sounds till 6am the next morning. I could hear sounds of torture in one of 

the rooms. 

I thought that the army had left and went to the Church. The Sisters inside told me 

to run away as the army were still there. So I did. 

When they finally left, I went back and went into the Father - Mary Bastion’s room. 

There were two boys there. They were dead and their blood had mixed in with 

kerosene on the floor. 

Seven people died in total. Six people were in the hospital. The SLA were dancing 

and singing that night. It seemed that they were all drunk or on drugs. 

I was told that the Father had been shot dead. His body had been dragged outside 

and his photo taken. The Father’s body was taken to Thalladi Army Camp. That day 

we could see smoke coming from the Army camp. We feared that the Father’s body 

was being burnt. 

The Bishop and the other Fathers went to the Thalladi Army Camp the next day to 

ask for the Father’s body. But the SLA denied any knowledge of the body.” 

! 

21. Mulliyavalai massacre 16.01.1985 

Mulliyavalai village is situated on 

the Mullaithivu-Vavuniya road in 

the Mullaithivu district. It is an 

ancient village with fertile land 

and has retained many of the folk 

culture of time past. 

16.01.1985 was a festive day, the 

day after Thaipongal. Thaipongal 

is thanks giving festival for the sun 

and on the following day the farm animals are honoured for their role in the 

farmer’s life. At 4.00 am on that morning the Sri Lankan military rounded up this 

village. 



14


The military arrested 17 people. One of them was a pregnant woman and another 

was a young mother of three children. Before they left, the military burnt down 

many homes. About 30 minutes later, people heard several gunshots. News started 

to spread that all the 17 people who wee arrested have been shot dead. The villagers 

kept this news from the relatives of the 17 arrested. 

A while later military vehicles started moving towards the Mullaithivu town. The 

relatives stared into the military vehicles looking for their loves ones. When their 

relatives did not return even the next day, the families, accompanied by a local 

Justice of Peace, Thiagaraja, went to the military camp in Mullaithivu. 

There the families saw the bodies of their loved ones thrown on the ground. The 

bodies had no clothes on them. The hand, legs and heads were chopped off. There 

were many torture marks on the body. The body of one woman had many cigarette 

burns. When the families asked to take the bodies of their loved ones, the military 

demanded that the families sign a statement that those killed were terrorists. When 

the families refused to do this the military refused to hand over the bodies. 

Thavaratnam Thilakavathy of Mulliyavalai says, 

“On 16.01.1985, the Sri Lankan military arrested 17 people including my husband 

and my son and took them towards the forest nearby. The military burnt many 

homes and stole many properties.” 

Pushparanee says, 

“The Sri Lankan military entered our home and arrested my brother and my mother 

and killed them both. The army said that they killed the people who were Tigers. 

One woman, Kumarasamy Vijayakumari who was 7 months pregnant was also 

killed. Many of us here were affected by this. Since this happened the day after 

Thaipongal festival, we do not celebrate Thaipongal any more”. 

22. Vaddakandal massacre 30.01.1985 

Kaddukarai Lake. 

Vaddakandal is situated 

in the Mannar district 

and it is a farming area. 

On 30.01.1985, around 

5.00am in the morning, 

200 Sri Lankan military 

men stationed in the 

Thalladi military camp 

came out and moved into 

the Vaddakandal village 

through Mathavachchi 

road and along the 

At 6.30 am they entered the homes of the villagers and began shooting and stabbing 

people. During this massacre the Sri Lankan Air Force helicopters also strafed the 

village. The military entered the Vaddakandal Government Tamil Mixed School 



15


and attacked the principal, teachers and students. Eighteen people were killed in the 

school. 

While this killing was going on, the military also attacked people working in the 

fields and people on the street. This attack went on for six hours. At 2.00pm the 

military ordered the people to load the military vehicles with the dead bodies and 

took the bodies to the Thalladi military camp. 52 people died in this massacre and 

40 were injured. 

Mayilvahanam Mohan’s account of what happened is as follows, 

“The SLA from Thalladi Army Camp surrounded the following 3 villages, 

Palaperuman Kattu and Vaddakandal and Parapankandal. Around 1.00am, we 

heard vehicle noise. We had no idea they were coming or what they would do. At 

about 5am in the morning – we heard gun fire from all directions. People woke up 

and started running everywhere. There was a helicopter in the air which started 

firing. 

They did not worry about a person’s age. Young or old – they were all shot and 

killed that day. They went into the paddy fields and picked up people with both 

hands, held them up and shot them for others to see. This is the first time we saw 

this happen. 35 people were shot in the fields, 15 people were shot in town. 

At the school there were about 250 children studying. They dragged the principle 

and all the teachers out, tortured and shot them in front of the villagers. They were 

all asked to stand in a line – when they were shot. A few people escaped. I was one 

of them. 18 people were shot there. 

Mayilvaganam Ganesh was made to shoot his cousin and asked to drink his blood. 

He was beaten severely. Every time he refused to drink the blood – they hit him 

some more. His legs were broken. 

After all of this happened, the Army brought a villager’s lorry. Three of us had 

been captured and not yet shot. They made us put all the bodies in the lorry and 

took us with them. A little while away – they told us that since we had helped them, 

they would spare us our lives. We ran away and escaped. They took some of the 

bodies to Thalladi Army camp and took some to Mannar Hospital. The Grama 

Sevakar helped the villagers to carry out the investigation. 

Beside this village there was a Muslim village – but nothing happened to them. 

Three days later, there were funerals happening in every house. The army returned 

and surrounded the forest. At that time we did not have any associations with the 

LTTE. They may have been there, but we did not know where they where. The SLA 

kept coming back after that and tormented all the villagers who had to live in 

constant fear.” 



16


23. Puthukkidiyiruppu Iyankovilady massacre 21.04.1985 

Oddisuddan. 

Puthukkkudiyiruppu is situated in 

the Mullaithivu district 20 Kms 

from Mullaithivu town. 

On 21.04.1985, SLAFs from 

Mullaitivu as usual rounded up the 

village of Puthukkudiyiruppu. 

Government employees were 

identified among them and 

released. People who did labour 

work for daily wages were taken 

in a military vehicle towards 

Sivananthan Megambalam narrowly escaped death on that fateful day. His account 

of the incident is as follows: 

“They would come in the middle of the night and early in the morning and surround 

the roads, shrubs and bushes in hope of catching the locals. They would come from 

Mullaithivu. 

On the 21 st April 1985, they arrived very early in the morning and took their 

positions. We were still asleep. Previously if we found out that the SLA were going 

to come, we would go and hide in the forest and remain there without food for a few 

days. However that morning, we were unaware. As our house was right next to 

Oddisuddan Road, we were unable to run anywhere. 

They rounded up people and took them to Puthupalavu Shop at Putthukudiyiruppu 

market. They arrested me too. But because my mother came running towards them 

screaming and pleading to let me go – they for some unknown and lucky reason did. 

Once they had finished their round up, they started leaving in their army vehicles. 

They took the people they had arrested in the back of their armored vehicle. About 

half a kilometer from our house, by the side of Oddisuddan road, there were some 

very thick bushes. We heard a big explosion and continued to hear smaller noises. 

We later found out that over 30 people were taken to a lane near Oddisuddan Road 

and shot. Most of the people died. Thurairatnam, the head of the Multi Purpose 

Cooperative Society managed to escape with great difficulty and courage. The 

bodies were taken in one of the SLA vehicles to Oddisuddan Road and burnt with 

kerosene and tar.” 

! 



17


24. Trincomalee massacres in 1985 

On 03.05.1985, 50 civilians were killed by 

Sinhala mobs and the Sri Lankan military 

in Mahindapura and Dehiwatta. 

On 03.06.1985, 13 civilians were killed in 

a bus in Trincomalee. Thankathurai, a 

former Member of Parliament, aged 70 at 

that time, was an eye witness and the only 

survivor of this massacre. 

On 23.05.1985, eight civilians were shot dead by the Sri Lankan military in 

Nilaveli. 

More than ten people, from Anpuvalipuram, who went to collect fire wood in 

different directions, in May 1985 never returned home. Their bulls and carts were 

found later. They are suspected to have been killed by the home guards and the Sri 

Lankan military. 

On 24.05.1985, 9 civilians were shot dead in Pankulam. Two civilians who went to 

Thehiwaththa to purchase items were also killed on the same day. 

A father and his 12 year old son who went to visit relatives in Kankuveli were 

hacked to death by the Sri Lankan home guards and the bodies were buried the 

Kankuveli tank. 

On 26.05.1985, 40 houses and property belonging to Tamils in Poonakar in 

Echchilampattu were set fire. Two civilians who went hunting on the same day did 

not return home. Home guards in Allai-Kanthalai road are suspected to have killed 

the pair. 

On the same day, three fishermen from Kunikuda were shot dead by the Sri Lankan 

military while they were fishing. 

On 27.05.1985, a bus of belonging to the State bus service, CTB, was stopped at 

52 nd Milepost in Mahinthapura and 7 Tamil civilians including driver Pushparaja 

were shot dead and their bodies were burnt by the Sinhala home guards. 

Krishnapillai who worked at Echchilampattu Village Council escaped with gun shot 

and burn injuries. 

25. Valvai85 massacre 10.05.1985 

Valvai is situated in Point Pedro 

region in the Jaffna district. On 

10.05.1985, Sri Lankan military 

rounded up Valvai and arrested 24 

young men. They were locked up in a 

community hall. A grenade was 

thrown on the building and all 24 

young men died. At the temple water 

tank a further 12 civilians were shot 

dead. Another 34 civilians were also 



18


killed that day. The number of people killed that day in Valvai is 70. 

26. Kumuthini Boat massacre 15.05.1985 

For the people of Deft Island, 

located off the coast of Jaffna, the 

boat “Kumuthini” provided an 

indispensable service. People had to 

travel to Jaffna using the boat 

service to obtain many essential 

services and items. On the 

15.05.1985, about 72 people were 

traveling in the boat from Delft 

Island to Jaffna. Sri Lankan Navy 

(SLN) soldiers from the camp in 

another islet, Nainativu, 

boarded the Kumuthini 

and massacred the people 

in the boat with knives. 

Many died during the 

violence. Some died as 

the boat sped to the 

Jaffna coast. It was 

evening by the time the 

Kumuthini reached the 

Jaffna coast. Injured 

people were admitted to 

hospital. The people of 

Delft Island heard the fate of their relatives only through the news media. 

Kumuthini is today a symbol for all Jaffna islets. She symbolizes the insecurity that 

people in the islets feel by the Sri Lankan Navy occupation. Her sight today 

reminds people of a lone mother who had lost her children. 

(a) Saro Rasaratnam, a survivor, recounts her experience, 

“We were traveling on Kumuthini boat 

for about 30 minutes when we stopped at 

mid-sea. Navy men climbed up into the 

boat. They took all of us to the front of 

the boat while they sat at the entrance. 

One of them had a gun. They asked if 

there was anyone who knew how to 

speak Sinhala and Jesuthasan knew. 

They asked us where we were going. 

There was a big noise at the back of the 

boat. Jesuthasan and the five who worked in the Kumuthini were the first to go 

toward the back. 



19


We didn’t know what was happening, but the Navy men ordered us to shout our 

names and our villages. We shouted in vain hope. Then people were called one by 

one by the Navy men. First all the men went, then the women started going. I was 

the last one to go and Nirmala was with me till then. Nirmala told me that they 

won’t do anything and to just go. She said they would just look at our ID card. I 

looked behind me and there was no one. I didn’t want to go, but I was forced to. 

One Navy man was up there, where I went. He pushed me, and another one 

stabbed me in my neck, chest and head. After that I don’t remember well, but I was 

pulled and thrown on top of others who were lying on the ground. These are my 

wounds on my head and neck.” 

(b) Annaladchmi Sivalingam, survivor whose baby was killed, recounts her 

experience, 

“I sat with my baby and showed the 

Navy man my ID card. He told me not 

to sit and took me upstairs. One Navy 

man took me by the hand, and stabbed 

me. I 

don’t 

remembe 

r what 

happened 

after that. 

The next thing I realized, I was in a hospital and was 

tied down with chains. I kept asking for my baby. 

They told me my baby was at home and feeding on cow’s milk. I was unable to open 

my mouth from my injuries and was on a liquid diet for one year. I only found out 

that my baby was killed six weeks after the incident” 

Kanapathypillai Anandakumar was on the boat at that time. His account is as 

follows, 

“When we were stopped, we were on the boat and were told to go inside. As we 

went inside, we were shut in a room. They asked us if anyone inside knew Sinhala. 

A few said yes and went forward. We don’t know what happened to them. Outside 

our room there were two Navy members standing as sentry with AKs [guns]. 

Outside there were two more people with grenades. 

They asked all the people inside to say their names loudly. So we all did. They did 

this so that the sound would hide what was happening in the room. They started 

asking people to move towards the back. As I walked towards the back, they hit my 

forehead with a stick. I don’t know what happened after this. Inside this room, there 

were very small children there under the age of one. They stabbed a 6 month old 

baby and ripped open her chest. Girls were also raped along with other acts of 

violation. People were killed. 72 people were in the boat, 36 were killed and 36 

survived. But the survivors were all tortured. 

I was taken to the hospital and regained conscious after 4 days. I was unable to go 

to work. I became very sick and was unable to find work after this.” 



20


! 

27. Kiliveddi massacre in 1985 

Kiliveddi is a Tamil village 

in the Mutur region of the 

Trincomalee district. In 1977 

it was annexed to the 

Seruwela electoral division. 

Following this, the people of 

this village was attacked by 

the military and the Sinhala 

leadership forcing the people 

to gradually leave the 

village. 

On 01.01.1985, the Sri 

Lankan military, its home guards, and Sinhala thugs entered the Kiliveddi village at 

2.00 pm. Kanagasabai was working as coroner for the area at that time and he has 

traveled to neighbouring villages on duty. When he saw the invaders he hid in a hay 

stack. He could identify many of the Sinhala thugs from the neighbouring Sinhala 

village of Dehiwatthe among the thugs. On that day 10 people were killed including 

4 women. 

Among the dead women were Kamala Rasaih and her daughter and Rajeswary 

Sharma and her daughter. 125 houses were burnt that day. A further 13 people, 

eight men and five women, were taken to the Dehiwathe village. The men were 

murdered and the women were raped. Among these women were Mrs. Sinniah and 

her daughter. The women were left naked after they were raped. When some 

Kiliveddi people with the help of the Sinhala people in the Dehiwathe village went 

to see, they saw one of the Kiliveddi women naked and tied up. 

Member of Parliament Thangathurai made a statement about the incident to the 

Daily Mirror paper. It was reported widely in the international media. Thangathurai 

was accused of false propaganda for making the statement. The then Minister of 

Defense ordered his arrest. Thangathurai heard this and escaped to India. 

The day after the above incident, on 02.06.1985, the bus leaving Trincomalee to 

Jaffna was shot at and 13 people died and 9 people were injured. 

On 03.06.1985, the Sinhala home guards with the help of the Sri Lankan military 

attacked several villages between Mutur and Kiliveddi. 35 people died. 200 people 

were abducted. The following villages were all set on fire, Menkamam, Kankuveli, 

Paddithidal, Palathadichenai, Arippu, Poonahari, Peruveli, Mulampodivaththai, 

Parathipuram, Lingapuram, Eechchilampatrai, Karunkalmuani, Mavadichenai, 

Muththichenai and Valaithoddam. In total 1000 houses were set on fire. In the 

fourteen days ending on 14.06.1985, a total of 150 people were killed. People from 

these villages displaced en masse. About 100 people crossed the Veruhal River and 

went to Vaharai. Another 2500 went to Mutur. 



21


28. Thiriyai massacre 08.06.1985 

Thiriyai is situated in the 

northeast region of the 

Trincomalee district. On 

08.06.1985, around 5.30am 

in the morning, Sri Lankan 

Air force helicopters flew at 

low level and began 

shooting. Sri Lankan military 

came in vehicles and told the 

people to leave the area 

before they begin shooting. 

After people left, 700 houses, 

400 houses in Thiriyai and 300 houses in Kallapatrai were burnt down. Stored 

paddy and farming equipments were burnt with the houses. 

Following this incident, displaced people stayed in schools. On 08.08.1985, the Sri 

Lankan military attacked the civilians in the schools. Ten civilians were killed 

including retired Grama Sevakar, Narayanapillai, President of the Thiriyai Multi 

Purpose Society, K Thurainayagam, Secretary of Thiriyai refugees rehabilitation 

centre, K.Ekamparam, and the Principal of Thiriyai Vidhyalayam, P Mahadeva. 

In addition, on 14.08.1985, 6 civilians were pulled out of a bus and hacked to death. 

29. Sampaltivu 04 to 09.08.1985 

A major military operation was 

launched between 04.09.1985 and 

09.09.1985. This operation was 

aiming to chase away the Tamils 

from northern parts of Trincomalee. 

The three forces of the government 

of Sri Lanka (land, sea and air) 

were engaged in this attack on the 

civilians. 

The Sri Lankan armed forces and 

home guards with heavy weapons were deployed in large numbers in the Central 

road, Ekamparam road, Veeranagar, Thirukadalur, Uppuveli, 3 rd Milepost, Navalar 

road and Uppuveli junction. They started attacking Tamils. 1500 houses including 

the building of Sivanantha Thabovanam which sheltered 200 children and several 

shops were destroyed. Fishing equipment belonging to Tamil fishermen was stolen. 

More than 25 civilians were killed in this attack. No local or international 

journalists were allowed into these areas. 

A report by a local school principal, who was also the President of the Citizens 

Committee at that time, documented that in June 1985 alone 311 civilian were 

killed in Trincomalee district and in the month of September 383 civilians were 



22


killed. News about this report was published in the 21.12.1985 Saturday Review 

paper published from Jaffna. 

30. Veeramunai massacre 20.06.1990 

peaceful community 

Veeramunai is a village in the 

Amparai district. It is a traditional 

Tamil village. Sammanthurai is the 

adjacent Muslim village where the 

Muslim people who were chased 

away from the coastal areas by the 

Portuguese colonizers have settled. 

The Muslims and Tamils have 

historically lived side by side and 

together have built a prosperous and 

On the 20.06.1990, Sri Lankan military rounded up the Veeramunai village and 

ordered the people to go to the Veeramunai Pillaiyar temple. Everyone who stayed 

at home without going to the temple was shot dead. Later on that day the military 

arrived at the temple in large numbers. There were more than 1000 people who had 

gone to the temple on orders from the military. The military selected every male 

over the age of 15 from the temple. 69 young men, all civilian youths, were arrested 

in front of their relatives. The arrested men were taken to the Sammanthurai 

Marjan School where they were tortured. 50 men died and their bodies were taken 

to the forest nearby and burnt. 

The military again took several more people from the temple on 29.06.1990 and all 

of them have disappeared. 

Following these two incidents people displaced from the temple to the Karaithivu 

Mahavidhyalayam School. On 03.07.1990, the military again rounded up this 

school and took 11 young men. They too have disappeared. 

Again on 05.07.1990, the military took away a further 13 men. All of them were 

tortured and killed and their bodies were burnet with tires. 

People who went in search of those who were arrested were attacked by the 

military. Following this people displaced again to a refuge camp near Veeramunai. 

On 10.07.1990, the military arrested another 15 young men from this Veeramunai 

refuge camp and took them to the military camp. There they were tortured and 

killed and their bodies were burnt. 

On 16.07.1990, eight women who went from the refugee camp to check their homes 

were arrested at the Malwaththai checkpoint. They were gang raped by more than 

30 SLA men and killed. Their bodies were burnt. 

On 26.07.1990, the military again arrested 32 young men. 23 of them were school 

children. All of them have disappeared. 



23


On 29.07.1990, eight school teachers who were traveling with their family were 

arrested. All of them have disappeared. 

On 01.08.1990, 18 civilians who were passing through the Savalakkadai road were 

arrested by the military and the home guards operated by it. Among them were four 

women and a baby. They were all killed using sharp weapons and their bodies were 

put inside the Savalakkadai temple and burnt. 

On 12.08.1990, Muslim groups that entered the Veeramunai refugee camp began 

attacking the people. Ten civilians were killed. Many more were injured. Among 

the dead are the temple manager Thambimuthu Sinnathurai and two babies. 

Those injured in the Muslim attack were taken to the Sammanthurai hospital where 

they were refused treatment. They were then taken to the Amparai hospital. The 

military came to the hospital and abducted three of the seven victims who were 

admitted to the hospital. The other four escaped back to Veeramunai. 

In Veeramunai 600 houses were set alight. A further 1352 houses were set alight in 

the villages of Malvaththai, Mallihaithivu, Newtown, Kanapathypuram, 

Valaththapiddy, and Sammanthurai. 

Between 20.06.1990 and 15.08.1990 more than 200 people were either killed or 

disappeared from Veeramunal and the adjacent villages. More 2000 houses were 

burnt. 

Some accounts of witnesses to these incidents follows. 

A resident of Ganapathipuram, who was a witness said: 

“When the army entered the limits of Malwattai, the soldiers shot people at sight, 

while houses were looted and burnt. We, on hearing gunshot and seeing flames 

rising from burning homes, fled with our family to save the women and children. 

We reached the Veeramunai Temple on foot and found people from other villages 

had arrived at the Temple earlier. Subsequently, people from Amparai, Mallaitivu 

and Sammanthurai Tamil division joined us.” 

A resident from Veeramunai said: 

“We found the soldiers were creating a climate of terror. People were picked up 

from their homes, the road and the paddy fields. To escape from possible arrest and 

death, we went to the Temple that was made a refugee camp. I am aware that 

persons in the employment of the government on their way to work were seized and 

killed and burnt at a place called Aandhi junction.” 

The operation of the army at Veeramunai was described by a mother who said: 

“On 20th June 1990 at 2.00 p.m. a number of army vehicles drove into the 

Veeramunai temple, where thousands of people (Tamils) had taken refuge. The 

soldiers made an announcement through the loudspeakers requesting all males over 

the age of 15 to assemble in the temple courtyard. People were agitated since the 

refugees had left their homes because of fear of the soldiers who had gone on a 



24


killing spree there. One by one the men went out into the open space opposite the 

temple and stood. Women were the most disturbed and stood watching. 

The soldiers entered the temple and examined the inner sanctum to ascertain 

whether anyone was hiding inside. They found no one and began to inspect the 

youths standing opposite the temple. Of the number surveyed, the soldiers began 

picking some youths and able bodied children and got them to board a CTB bus 

they had brought. 

The women went before the soldiers and asked them what they were trying to do. 

One of the officers said they were being taken for questioning and would be 

released after interrogation. The women pleaded with the soldiers stating that their 

children were never associated with any form of terrorism and that every one of 

those picked up by the army was an innocent youth. The soldiers ignored the tears 

of the women and started to leave the temple premises with the youths. 

We fell in front of the vehicles and worshiped the soldiers to leave our boys. The 

officer who led the raid spoke harshly to us wailing women that he would order his 

men to shoot every man and women who were obstructing the vehicle. The women 

fearing the worst retreated and the army carried away our children. A few returned 

later battered and bruised, following severe torture”. 

A youth who escaped from sure death after arrest, made the following statement: 

“I was one among those arrested on 20 th June from the Veeramunai temple. The 

soldiers having picked up a number of young men, who were refugees at the 

Temple, took us to the Sammanthurai AI-Matjan Muslim School where we were 

beaten severely without any reason. The soldiers first attacked us with gun butts 

and thereafter kicked us and boxed our faces. The young men picked up at the 

refugee camp were later paraded before a fair, fat youthful stranger. When I was 

produced before him, he said "No" and I was taken aside. I found that the stranger 

saying "Yes" to most of the young men produced before him that evening. The 

people to whom he said, “Yes” were taken into another building. Those who were 

taken aside on the pronouncement of “No” were produced before another officer 

who made a speech in Tamil. I was in no mood to grasp what he said. The torture I 

had suffered a little while before had robbed me of my strength and vitality. I could 

hardly keep standing as I was assaulted by around 15 men simultaneously. The 

officer told us to get back to the Temple from where we were picked up. The others 

who were separated from us, we learnt were carried to a place called Malaikadu - 

a rocky place in shrub jungle - in army trucks and killed. Of the many picked up 

from the refugee camp at the Temple, only around 20 returned. We learnt that half 

burnt human bodies were rotting at Malaikadu and the Muslims, unable to bear the 

stench of decomposing human flesh, carried several tractor loads of paddy husks to 

cover the rotting bodies and burnt them.” 



25


Madasamy Kathirkamamoorthy 

I was living in Veeramunai, a village in Amparai. We 

were very poor. We had no dad. When I did not go to 

school, I used to go to Amparai for work. One day on 

the way to work I heard there was trouble. So I 

returned home. My mother said that it was not safe for 

us to stay at home - there are beginning to hit 

everyone. 

My sister who was married was living one kilo meter 

away. I told my mother to get ready and I went to get 

my sister. My sister too said that we had to leave with my mother. On the way to 

get my mother, five hundred meters before her house – an army truck had stopped. 

No one was in uniform. They were all in civil, but they were carrying weapons. I 

was living in a small village, with about ten or fifteen families. When I saw this 

truck I immediately felt scared. I stopped my bike and went into a relative’s house. 

These armed men started hitting people – they spoke in Sinhala and told me to get 

into the truck. There were 9 of us that were hit and made to get onto the truck. Some 

of the nine had blood dripping down them. Two of us were young, the rest were 

married men with children. When the wives came to stop them – they hit the wives 

and children that got in the way. 

In the truck, they told us to lie down and took us to a big forest in Amparai. They 

made us take our sarong off and used it to tie our hands behind our back. They 

stood in front of us, loaded their machine guns and shot everyone. 

I turned to my side – my leg and arm were hit by the bullets. I have a big scar on 

my leg. As people tried to get up, they were again shot till they were dead on the 

floor. So I just laid there with my eyes shut. My leg was badly hurt. I was not even 

sure I had a leg. I dragged my leg and slowly walked away”. 

31. Nilaveli massacre 16.09.1985 

Nilaveli is located in the 

Kuchchaveli Assistant 

Government Agent Division in 

Trincomalee district. Nilaveli 

is 10 Kms from the 

Trincomalee town. Following 

the 1983 ethnic pogrom the 

Nilaveli refugee camp was 

overflowing with people. 

On 16.09.1985, the Sri Lankan 

army and home guards armed 

by the military that were stationed in Nilaveli rounded up the Nilaveli refugee 

camp. They arrested 24 civilians at the refugee camp and shot them dead on the 

spot.! 



26


32. Piramanthanaru massacre 02.10.1985 

Piramanthanaru Village, 

Kilinochchi is an agricultural area 

and many people who have settled 

here came through a scheme set up 

in the 1950s to provide land for 

people from poor families. They 

were innocent people working hard 

to earn a living. 

In the early morning on 2 nd October 

1985, five helicopters landed on the 

bund of the tank with around 200 SLA personal. Some of the army hid in the 

bushes until 3pm in the afternoon and captured and tied up passing villagers. Others 

went into the Piramanthanaru Village and shot people. They destroyed agricultural 

products and burnt the houses. Many of the villagers were injured by the army as 

they were hit with the butt of rifles or kicked with the army’s heavy boots. Some 

were even tied upside down whilst water was poured down their nose. Some 

villagers were interrogated as to their connections with the LTTE. 

Thurairasa Saradha Devi’s brother, Ponnuthurai Pakiyanathan, was massacred on 

that day. She says, 

“Early in the morning at 7am on 2 nd October 1985, I was preparing breakfast. My 

husband had gone to Pulliyampokkani to buy paddy. Suddenly one helicopter came 

and landed by the side of my house. We ran into the house and hid. The army 

surrounded my house. They ordered us to come out and kneel. There was another 

child with us who also knelt on the floor. They captured my brother and tied his 

hands. They took him by the side of the helicopter and gave him a rifle to hold and 

took video footage and a photo. Afterwards they brought my brother to the house 

and asked me if he was an LTTE man. I denied this and said ‘he is not an LTTE 

man - we are farmers – we are poor people doing farm work here only. We don’t 

know about LTTE movement.’ But the army said that they had a photo with a 

weapon – so how could we say that he was not a terrorist. 

We were hit by guns and boots. They threatened me saying they were going to shoot 

us and therefore we should tell the truth. They said that my brother was LTTE and 

that they had a photo of him with a gun. The army threatened that if we did not 

agree with them, they would kill us and all the children. With that they burnt our 

house down. We were all shouting and begging them for mercy. They took my 

brother with them. I followed them and cried and asked the army several times to 

release him. One army member kicked me with his boots and I fell on the floor. 

After sometime I opened my eyes. I did not see my brother. Our house and other 

houses were burnt. There was smoke everywhere. My children and I went to 

Pulliyampokkanai and returned the next morning. We saw so many dead bodies but 

could not find my brother. We went to Mullaithivu and asked the army commander 

about my brother. He denied any knowledge of my brother. Finally somebody told 

us that my brother’s body was in the forest. We immediately went there and saw the 

body. They had stabbed and pushed him from the helicopter. All his bones were 

broken. We burnt his body at the site.” 



27


Kathirgamarasa a resident says, 

“I had many friends in the area where the helicopters were flying low. We wanted 

to go there, but it was impossible. The helicopters landed a quarter of a mile from 

my home. My brother-in-law (Sakthivel alias Mahan) was living in a house one mile 

from my home. For two hours the helicopters were flying and there were gun shot 

sounds. When the activities of the army appeared to have stopped, a friend and I 

started walking that way. 

We saw another friend, 22 year old Rasan, returning after tapping toddy with his 

vessel. His home was in the area where the helicopters had landed. I told him it is 

not safe to go. He did not listen to me and proceeded towards his house. The army 

shot him on his way to home. He must have been the first to be shot by the army. 

Rasan is originally from Nunavil and his wife is from Piramanthanaru. I saw 

Rasan’s vessel by the side of the road. I could also see the shoe marks of the army 

(no one in the village wore covered shoes like the army). I became suspicious. I saw 

Rasan’s body in front of a temple among the bushes. 

We saw shoe marks walking in both directions and we concluded that the army 

must have gone back. We started to walk towards the 40 th Canal. We saw bodies of 

Sivapatham, Kamini, Sathyalingam, Kanesamoorthy, Selvarasa, Ramasamy, and 

Yogarasa as we walked. We walked on to inform the families. They would not come 

out due to fear. 

I wanted to go and see my brother-in-law, Mahan, but there was some suspicion 

that the army may have camped there. I hesitated for a while about what to do next 

and then I proceeded towards my brother-in-law’s house. I met Anton on the way. 

Anton told me what had happened. Mahan was working in a joint farm with three 

others, Nagappar Sathyalingam (Kanna), Vallipuram Ganesamoorthy (Appan) and 

Vallipuram Vivekananthan (Ananthan). Appan and Ananthan are brothers. All four 

of them were living in one house and doing farming. They were all dead. We both 

walked on. 

We saw a house that had been burnt together with the vehicle parked inside. We 

saw two more bodies. One was that of Sathyaseelan and I cannot remember the 

name of the other one. The army had arrested a person named Pakyam and was 

taking him with them. When they had come across Sathyaseelan, they had taken 

two-thousand rupees from his pocket and his expensive (to Sathyaseelan’s means) 

wristwatch and chased him away. Sathyaseelan being poor and unable to accept 

the huge loss decided to go back to ask for his possessions from the army. The army 

shot him dead. They shot Pakyam and left his body in the forest. No one knew until 

people started looking and the smell of the decaying body became noticeable. 

I took a tractor machine belonging to one of the villagers to move the bodies to 

their family home. One man Peran was badly wounded. We changed his clothes and 

gave him first aid. Then Anton and others carried him home to Yakkachchi twenty 

miles away by foot through lakes. I gave the bodies to the families and finally took 

the body of my brother-in-law, Mahan, home.” 

! 



28


33. Kanthalai85 massacre 09.11.1985 

Kantalai is situated in the 


09.11.1985, Sri Lankan military 

went to the home of 

Mayilvakanam near Kanthalai 

Pillayar temple and abducted all 

six people from the house. Their 

bodies were later found in 4th 

Milepost area in Allai road. 

Among the six were two daughters 

of Mayilvakanam. Postmortem 

revealed that the two girls were raped before being killed. 

34. Muthur Kadatkaraichenai 08, 09, 10.11.1985 

All three divisions of the Sri 

Lankan Armed Forces 

attacked Mutur and 

Kadatkaraichenai areas by 

land, air and sea on 

08.11.1986, 09.11.1985 and 

10.11.1985. Civilians were 

shot and killed and burnt with 

their houses. More than 70 

civilians who sought refuge in 

temples were arrested and 

disappeared. More than 100 

houses were set fire. More than 30 civilians were killed in this attack. 

35. Periyapullumalai massacre in 1986 

Pullumalai village had faced many 

atrocities by the Sri Lankan 

military. On 20.05.1980 the Sri 

Lankan military and its home 

guards burnt down more than 100 

homes in Pullumalai. 25 young men 

from Pullumalai was arrested by 

Col Veeratunge of the Sri Lankan 

military and taken to Koduvamadhu 

and killed. 

On 08.05.1986, the military arrived from Mahaoya and began attacking the village. 

18 civilians were stood on a line and shot and killed by the military. 51 civilians 

disappeared. Many families were killed en masse. The mother four children and an 



29


eight month old baby from the family Nagalingam Rajaratname were killed that 

day. Children died when the military stepped on them with their boots. Kanthasamy 

his Sinhala wife and their child were killed. The military let two civilians known to 

them to escape. They ran and arrived at Senkalady. 

On 10.11.1986, more people were killed including a three month old baby. Six of 

the women who were killed were raped before being murdered. 24 people arrested 

on this day disappeared. A planned identification parade to identify the military 

men who carried out these massacres was stopped from proceeding. 

36. Kilinochchi Railway Station massacre 25.01.1986 

Kilinochchi town is a hustling business 

centre for the Kilinochchi district. It has a 

big market, a railway station and a 

hospital that draws the people to the town 

from all around the district. Farmers, 

business people, government employees 

and self employed people contribute to its 

economic activity. 

The Sri Lankan military was stationed in the Kilinochchi Irrigation Department 

hostel in 1986. The military was harassing people through arrests and threats. On 

25.01.1986, five Sri Lankan military personnel were hiding behind the trees south 

of the Kilinochchi Railway station. The train from Jaffna carrying passengers to 

Colombo stopped at the Kilinochchi railway station to pick up passengers. 

As the passengers were boarding the train, one of the military soldiers opened fire at 

the passengers. Frightened people started to run in all directions. People hid inside 

the railway station and inside the train. 

At the end of the shooting, 12 people were dead including four women and two 

children. 

The government of Sri Lanka made the following statement after this massacre, “A 

soldier suffering from mental illness opened fire at the passengers and killed some 

of them. We apologize for the incident”. 

There were no other steps taken by the government regarding the incident. 

Sinnaiyah Nallaiyah 

“We lived near the Church at 8 th milepost. My wife was a 

teacher. She had received a letter inviting her to 

Anuradhapura Education Department. So we were 

preparing to go there. We were not able to catch the bus. 

We planned to go by train. When we were at the station 

we heard the gunshots and we hid ourselves. 

Nine SLA soldiers came there. They began to shoot 

randomly from the platform. Nine people were killed 



30


immediately. My wife and son and many others were injured. I shouted “water! 

Water!”. My 5 year old son fetched me water from the pot. I found my 9 year old 

son and wife dead. After I drank water, I fainted. I was taken from Kilinochchi 

hospital to Jaffna hospital. Then we heard that the SLA had told that only one 

soldier was involved in this attack and he had a mental disorder. Is it usual for SLA 

personnel to have a mental disturbance?” 

37. Udumbankulam massacre 19.02.1985 

Udumpankulan 

and 

Thankavelayuthapuram are 

situated near the Thirukovil area 

in the Amparai district. 

On 19.02.1985, early in the 

morning, 85 Sri Lankan military 

personnel from the Amparai 

military camp arrived in six 

military vehicles in 

Thankavelayuthapuram and 

Udumpankulam villages. Some 

of the military were in camouflage uniform and others in blue uniform. They went 

into the paddy fields where hundreds of poor farmers were busy with harvesting 

work. They were carrying weapons. They rounded up 103 people in the fields and 

took them to the forest nearby. There they raped and cut the breasts off from the 

women and killed them. Others were lined up and shot dead. In total 103 people 

were killed including many children. The military spread the harvested hay over the 

bodies and set fire to it. 

Ms. TK, who was a victim of rape and eye witness to the massacres that took place 

in the paddy fields of Udumpankulam, related her story: 

“On the night, the Army which came from Kondavedduvan camp rounded up all the 

people working in the paddy field. Then they started shooting the men. They raped 

five of us. We pleaded with the soldiers not to do anything to us. But they all raped 

us, in line in the paddy field itself. As we couldn't bear-up the pain, gradually we 

lost consciousness. 

After an hour or so we recovered and ran into a cave of a mountain. From there we 

saw the soldiers covering all the bodies with paddy sacks and dried grass and 

setting fire to those bodies. 

After two days Akaraipattu Citizen Committee President Mr. Ahamad Lebbai, 

General Secretary, S. T. Moorthy, Deputy President, Rev. Fr. Philip, and Batticaloa 

Citizen committee President, Rev. Chandra Fernando, accompanied by press 

reporters came to the paddy field. The air in that area was laden with repulsive 

smell of decomposing bodies and they saw bodies half burnt. 

They found that there were 66 people massacred. They took photographs of all the 

bodies. They recorded our statements as well. Even Kalawana Member of 



31


Parliament, Sarath Muthugama, spoke about this massacre in the parliament. All 

those efforts were of no avail. There is no justice here. No compensation was paid 

either to members of the family of the victims or to us who were raped by the 

soldiers.” 

38. Vayaloor massacre 24.08.1985 

Vayaloor is situated in the 

Amparai district. Valayoor, 

Sagamam was a colony of the 

landless poor who were settled in 

1972 under the government’s plan 

to give “the highest priority to the 

development of land for the 

production of food and other 

crops”. To reach Vayaloor, one has 

to travel eight miles on foot as 

there is only a jungle path leading 

to the village. There were 200 families living in the village and they had no access 

to clean drinking water, no shops and the nearest government dispensary was 10 

miles away. Yet they continued to stay and cultivate crops like maize, kurakkan, 

manioc, yams and other vegetables, depending on rainwater. Traders from distant 

places went there in bullock carts to collect agricultural produce from the chenas. 

The people built their homes with poles and mud, thatched them with either coconut 

cadjan, or grass. 

After the attack, which occurred during a ceasefire period, the settlement was 

deserted and now the land has been taken over by the jungle. When people left 

Valayoor, they did not carry any of their belongings. They fled with what they were 

wearing. They had lost all their possessions including animals, crops and savings. 

The attack on the people at Vayaloor started in the early hours on the 24th August 

1985. S.Vijeya widowed by the Vayaloor attack, is a mother of five. She says, 

“It was about 6 o’clock in the early house of the day: I was at the hearth trying to 

light the fire to prepare the tea. All of a sudden I noticed that there were a number 

of men in army fatigues carrying guns standing around our hut. I was terrified – 

much afraid of the visitors. I began to tremble. 

The soldiers found that I had seen them and observing my nervousness, approached 

me with a volley of questions, (in Sinhala), which I did not understand. Just then my 

husband walked in and the soldiers spoke to him and through friendly gestures and 

show of hands asked him to join them with the bucket we use for drawing water 

from the well. My husband was asked to follow them and I joined them too. The 

soldiers rounded all the males above 18 years from the huts but allowed the aged, 

the sick and the weak to remain. They took all the able bodied youths with them. 

Even woman were taken along. We walked through the jungle path towards the 

East. 



32


The soldiers wanted the men to fetch some water for them to wash before breakfast. 

It was around 8 o’clock. The men obliged and the soldiers ate their food and we 

starved – did not even have a cup of plain tea. 

When their breakfast was over, they asked the people to accompany them on their 

journey but never told us as to where they were taking us to. We complied with their 

orders and proceeded along the jungle path when we met another group of soldiers, 

and the officer commanding that group found fault with the soldiers who had taken 

women together with men. The second group leader came up to the women and 

spoke in Tamil and said, “Do not proceed further with the men. The soldiers are in 

an unfamiliar area. We need men. Wait there under the tree until noon and get back 

to your places and your men will return to you after showing us the way.” We 

remained at that place waiting for our men who went in the direction of 

Kumarankulam, but they did not return. 

The sun came vertically over our heads and there were no signs of the men 

returning. Since we had to prepare food for our children and for the men who had 

gone with the soldiers, we returned to our huts and busied ourselves cooking food 

that we did not eat. 

As we were waiting for the men to return, a message came of killing. The 

messenger, who himself had escaped death, said the remains of those killed were 

scattered in the Kumarankulam area. I could not believe the message but when the 

other women started going to the homes of relatives at Kolavil, Panankadu and 

Akkaraipattu in search of safety, I too left Vayaloor. I left everything behind as they 

were and went to my people. 

The elderly persons whom the army left in their chenas proceeded to the place 

where the men were slaughtered. Grief-stricken relatives went to Kumarankulam in 

tractor-driven trailers and brought the dead to our ancestral villages who were 

buried according to customary rituals. We lost all that we owned at Vayaloor." 

A trader who went to Vayaloor frequently on business, Vyramuthu Kanagasabai, 

said, 

"I went to Vayaloor - Periyatalawe on the 23 rd evening with the hired double 

bullock cart to bring goods for the Sunday fair at TirukkoviI. I spent the night and 

helped to uproot the mature manioc. As I was preparing to leave the area on the 

24th, I found the entire settlement rounded up. I remained in a hut with the farmers. 

I was taken into custody, but released. I don't know what happened to the cart, the 

bulls and the carter I took to Vayaloor. I lost all the money I carried and the bicycle 

I used for my journey. When the soldiers asked me to run away, I went, but 

remained hiding a little away from Kumarankulam. 

A little after I left the farmers, I heard the gunshots. When the soldiers left in their 

vehicles, I went to the place and saw the men shot dead. However, there were two 

who were injured. One was shot through the mouth. He did not die and the other 

was named Nadarasa. I returned to Vayaloor and conveyed the fate of the men. 

Kanagasabai confirmed that as many as 40 were killed.” 



33


39. Eeddimurinchan massacre 19, 20.03.1986 

Eeddimurnchan village is 

situated in the Vavuniya 

district. Most people in the 

village are farmers. 

In the 1970’s upcountry Tamils 

displaced from their homes due 

to violence by the Sinhala mobs 

were settled in the settlements 

of Dollar farm, Ken farm, 

Ceylon Theater and others like 

it in Vavuniya. In the 1980’s the Sri Lankan military chased these upcountry Tamils 

from their homes in these settlements and settled Sinhala prisoners in their homes 

and armed them as well. 

These Sinhala prisoners tormented the long term residents of the area with thefts of 

their livestock, farm products and homes. The prisoners also started to attack the 

people. 

On 19.03.1986, the Sri Lankan military and the settled Sinhala prisoners came 

through the jungle in many military vehicles and arrived at Eeddimurinchan village 

at 4.30 pm. They started shooting the people and burning their homes. They also 

took away all valuable things from the homes. 

On the next day the military and Sinhala groups rounded up the Nedunkerni village 

early in the morning. They started shooting everyone including old people and 

children. 20 people were killed in the two days of violence. Property worth 

hundreds of thousands of rupees was also damaged. The Sri Lankan Air Force 

helicopter provided cover for the military on land to carry out the massacre. The 

strafing by the helicopter damaged houses in Periyakulam, 3 Kms away as well. 

Frightened people took refuge in the jungles. Fearing the military, relatives took the 

bodies of their family members and buried them in the jungle. 

40. Anandapuram shelling 04.06.1986 

Anandapuram is a small village situated in the Kilinochchi 

district. The main occupation of the people is farming. 

In 1986, the Sri Lankan military began expanding their military 

camps in civilian areas and also was shelling the civilian areas. 

On 04.06.1984, at 5.00 am, the shelling began from the military 

camp in Kilinochchi town towards Anandapuram. One of the 

shells fell on the house of Ramaih Periyanpillai located on 

Selva road and completely destroyed his house. Five young children were sleeping 

in one room with their mother. Four of the children were killed, their bodies broken 

to smithereens. The fifth child was taken to hospital with serious injuries to the 

head and the body. He died in the hospital. Mother also sustained serious injuries. 



34


All the people displaced from 

Anandapuram due to the heavy 

shelling. When the people 

returned to their village they had 

to bury the bodies of the four dead 

children in their won yard. 

A memorial stone was installed at 

the place where the children were 

buried. A clock tower was also 

built in memory of the five 

children. Both of these memorials were destroyed by the Sri Lankan military in its 

later attacks. Four of the five children killed were students of the Kilinochchi 

central college. 

41. Kanthalai86 massacre 04, 05.06. 1986 

Kantalai is situated in the 

Trincomalee district. On 04,05.06 

1986, near the 4 th Milepost, Sri 

Lankan Air Force and homeguards 

armed by them, stopped 

the buses and identified the 

Tamils and attacked them. Many 

were killed, disappeared and 

injured. 

On 05.06.1986, a bus with 25 

passengers going from Trincomalee to Vavuniya was stopped and attacked. The bus 

was burnt. From the ashes 10 bodies were recovered including that of a child and a 

baby. 

Over the two days, more than 50 civilians were killed and the fate of more than 35 

civilians is not known. 

42. Mandaithivu sea massacre 10.06.1986 

Kurunagar, Pasaiyur and Mandaithivu are situated off 

the southern coast of the Jaffna peninsula. Surrounded 

on three sides by the sea and on one side by land, 

Mandaithivu village had 1200 families living in it. All 

the people in the village depended on fishing for their 

livelihood. 

On 10.06.1986, Sri Lankan Navy men wearing black 

clothes approached the fishermen who were in the sea. 

The fishermen raised their hands to show that they are 



35


43. Seruvila massacre 12.06.1986 

civilians. However, the Navy men 

attacked and tortured the fishermen 

before murdering them. The eyes of 

some of the fishermen were dug 

out. Stomachs of some fishermen 

were cut open. 32 fishermen from 

Kurunagar and one fisherman from 

Mandaithivu were killed in the 

incident. Boats and nets belonging 

to the fishermen were destroyed. 

Seruvila is situated in the 


12.06.1986, two village 

headmen, three state 

employees, and 20 workers 

who were transporting relief 

food for the refugees were 

attacked by the home-guards 

in Mahindapuram. 21 civilians 

were killed and 2 injured in 

this attack. The victims were 

taking relief for the refugees 

who have displaced as a result of the violence against Tamils in Eechilampatru. 

44. Thambalakamam massacres 1985, 1986 

Thampalakamam is a famous 

village in the Trincomalee district. 

The main economic base of this 

village is agriculture. 


military rounded up 

Thampalakamam and 9 people 

were shot dead. 

were burnt by the military. 

On 26.11.1985, three farmers 

were shot dead and their bodies 

In another incident near the temple five people were shut in shop and burnt. Two, 

Kubenthiran and Navaratnam died. The other three were rescued with severe burns. 

On 25.05.1986, three refugees, a mother and two sons, who went to check on their 

homes, were shot dead. 



36


On 30.05.1986, military in black uniform entered the home in Thampalakamam and 

killed the father, mother and two children. A 13 year old girl and another woman 

escaped with injuries. 

On 17.06.1986, 8 farmers disappeared from their fields in Puthukkudiyiruppu in 

Thampalakamam. 

On 20.06.86, the Sri Lankan Air Force and the Sri Lankan Army, stationed at the 

Thampalakamam junction, made a joint attack on the Thampalakamam village. 

People were forced to displace. More than 25 of the displaced villagers took refuge 

in the Potkerni rice mill in the village. The military that arrived at the rice mill 

arrested all the people in the rice mill and took them. The owner was spared. The 

bodies of those taken were recovered in the forest nearby. 34 people died in this 

incident. 

On the same day in Sampalthivu five civilians were shot dead. One Thankarasa was 

set alight inside his car. 

45. Paranthan farmers massacre 28.06.1986 

Paranthan is situated in the 

Kandavalai Assistant 


the Kilinochchi district. 

Paranthan is a key town in the 

Kilinochchi district. The main 

economic activity of the people 

is farming. Some also fish for 

additional income and some 

work as laborers. 

Paranthan was subjected to 

many military attacks has been badly affected as a result during the war. In 

particular, this area faced the persistent attacks from the Elephant Pass military 

camp of the Sri Lankan military. 

On 28.06.1986 at 5.15am, there was shelling from the Elephant Pass camp. The 

military moved forward into the Paranthan main road. Seven farmers who were 

irrigating their plots along the main road were arrested by the military for no 

apparent reason. They were tied together by a rope and tortured. Their bodies were 

later discovered in the nearby by waste water canal. 

Those who arrived to work in the paddy fields that afternoon at 3.30 pm saw the 

bodies and informed the families. Many people in Paranthan displaced in the 1980’s 

from their homes due to such persistent atrocities. 



37


46. Peruveli refugee camp massacre 15.07.1986 

Peruveli is a Tamil village 

situated in Batticaloa, 1 

Km to the right from the 

Mallikaithivu junction. 

The Peruveli Government 

Mixed School was 

converted into a refugee 

camp in 1985. 

The Mallikaithivu Grama 

Sevakar (GS) division is 

made up mostly of Tamil 

villages. However, there were also a few Sinhala villages in this GS division. Large 

number home guards armed by the Sri Lankan military were stationed in the 

Sinhala villages of Dehiwatte and Nilapola. Many locals in these two villages 

belonged to these home guards. Since the Sinhalese villagers and Tamils in adjacent 

villages socialized well these home guards acted as informants to the military, 

which had a program of killing Tamil civilians. 

On 15.07.1986, the home guards and the Sri Lankan military surrounded the 

Peruveli refugee camp at night and were lying in waiting. Since the adjacent Tamil 

villages to the refugee camp had already been destroyed by the military, and since 

the refugees did not move out at night due to fear, no one knew about the military 

and home guards lying in waiting. As early morning light started to appear the 

military and home guards entered the refugee camps and started to shoot at random. 

Some of the refugees who have gone to their homes to check were also attacked. In 

total, 48 people were shot dead and more 20 were injured. Many women were raped 

during this mayhem. The attack on the refugees lasted till mid-day. 

One survivor recounts the experience, 

“People from Mallikaithivu and some other 

villages were living in Peruveli refugee camp in 

fear of the army. That day, all people in the village 

were rounded up right throughout the night. At 

dawn, they shot, killed and tortured everyone they 

saw. 

They went into the refugee camp and set fire to the 

cottages. Whilst the cottages were burning, people 

were grabbed by their heads and legs and thrown 

into the fire. They also threw people who were alive into the fire. 

People were scared and were all hiding in families of four and five in some houses. 

They took all the men out of the houses. They shot, cut them and threw them in the 

wells. 



38


They shot and took away about twenty five bodies on a vehicle. The bodies were 

returned three days later. They had poured acid on their face - we could not 

recognize them. All the wells and pits had bodies dumped in them. We could not 

count the bodies that day because there were bodies everywhere. 

Usually when the army comes, we hear fighting noises continuously. So we thought 

the same was happening. But it was only when the army left and we went into the 

village, we realised that nearly every well and pit had a body. People who had 

come to the village for work had also died there. 

Those in the refugee camps were the most tortured. They were building separate 

huts to live. The huts were burnt and the people were all shot. People were also 

taken away. When these people returned they were in such a tragic state. Their 

arms and legs were broken and they could not walk. 

We were too scared to stay in the village. If the army returned we too would be 

shot. We could not bury people in individual holes. We could not even touch the 

bodies - that's how badly disfigured they were. We dug a big hole with a machine, 

dumped the bodies and then closed up the hole. 

The brutality that was done at the refugee camp was unimaginable. Some people 

are mentally affected by it.” 

47. Thanduvan bus massacre 17.07.1986 

Thanduvan is situated on the 

Mullaithivu-Vavuniya main road, 

4 Kms from Nedunkerni, driving 

towards Mullaithivu. Thanduvan 

village is part of the Oddusuddan 


division in the Mullaithivu district. 

The main occupation and income 

of the village is agriculture. People 

of the village had to travel to 

Nedunkerni to buy their regular 

necessities. 

On the fatal day of 17.07.1988, many people were in the bus connecting 

Mullaithivu to Nedunkerni. The bus belonged to the state operated bus service. On 

that day the Nedunkerni area was cordoned off and searched by the Sri Lankan 

military under the command of Gen Kobbekaduwa. Supporting and protecting the 

cordon and search was a military helicopter belonging to the Sri Lankan Air Force. 

In this situation, the Thanduvan people in the bus were unable to proceed to 

Nedunkerni. The bus driver turned back the bus and started to drive back to 

Mullaithivu. The military helicopter followed the bus and started to fire at the bus. 

One Km from the Thanduvan school in the direction of Mullaithivu, a rocket was 

fired at the bus. 17 people in the bus, including the bus driver were killed. A further 

13 people in the bus were injured. 



39


48. Mutur Manalchenai massacre 18.07. 1986 


conducted a cordon and search 

operation in villages of Manalchenai 

and Peruveli in Muthur. 44 civilians 

were arrested and taken away and shot 

dead. Most of those killed were 

displaced people from the villages of 

Menkamam, Kankuveli and 

Mallikaitivu. 

49. Adampan massacre 12.10.1986 

Adampan village is situated in the 

Manthai West Assistant 


Mannar district. This is a farming 

village. The villagers have suffered 

endless atrocities at the hands of the 

nearby Thalladi Sri Lankan military 

camp for more than 20 years. 

On 12.10.1986 at 4.00 am in the 

morning, the Sri Lankan military 

moved out from the camp through the Malikai village and rounded up the Adampan 

village. They shot and killed the sleeping villagers and burnt down several shops. 

The military that entered the village at 5.00am continued the attack until 11.00am. 

The military threw the bodies into the rice fields and on the road and left. More 

than 20 civilian lost their lives and many shops were brunt down. 

Suvannah Sabastianpillai’s account of the event is as follows, 

“I was sleeping at home and heard blasting noises around 

4am. We woke up to see what had happened. There was a 

helicopter in the air. We started running and were 

surrounded by bomb blasts. We ran to a nearby Muslim 

village. 

We returned around 12 pm. We hid in a tree and saw that 

the army were everywhere along with blasting sounds. The 

army had rounded up the whole place. Things were broken, 

people were crying. Everything was a mess. There were jeeps everywhere. Close 

behind a jeep were the Special Task Force. We heard rapid fire near where they 

had stopped. 22 vehicles had come to Thamarakulam. I counted them. Police and 

the SLA joined in on this. Two of my relations – Pasumai and Cheenan – were on 

their way back from a funeral. They were shot and left on the road. 



40


The army left around 3pm and we came back to find wounded bodies and blood 

everywhere. I can’t describe the situation. 11 people had died. I saw all of this with 

my own eyes. 

They took boys from this village away to where the land mines were and hurt them. 

We were tortured like this in ’94, ’95 and ’96. When they came to shell, we would 

just leave everything and run. They would come at any time of the day - morning, 

evening and night.” 

50. Periyapandivrichchan massacre 15.10.1986 

Periyapandivirichchan village 

is in the Madhu Assistant 

Government Agent division in 

Mannar district. The village 

has rice fields adjoining large 

forests. 

On 15.10.1986, one of the 

villagers, Rasanayagam was 

working in his vegetable plot. 

His two daughters returned 

home from school. After 

having lunch the two girls took lunch for their father working in the farm. The 

person who guards the next farm, Joseph Francis aged 72, the father and two 

daughters were sitting in the small hut in the farm. 

The Sri Lankan military that came through the forest fired towards the farm. A little 

later they arrived at the farm and started attacking Rasanayagam. His daughter was 

tortured and her breasts and vagina were cut. Joseph Francis was also cut into 

pieces. 

The military left the place after this attack. Rasanayagam and the other daughter 

escaped with injuries. 

51. Kokkadichcholai87 massacre 28.01.1987 

Kokkadichcholai is situated in the 

Batticaloa district. Farming, fishing 

and prawn farming were the main 

occupations of the people. 


began its attack on the village and 

continued it for three days. The 

military entered the village from 



41


Kondavedduvan, Kaluvanchikudi, Vellaveli, and Kallady camps in military trucks 

and helicopters. They took people aged from 14 to 40 and killed more than 200 of 

them. 

A prawn farm was operated with aid from United States of America in 

Mahiladiththivu. It was employing a large number of workers. 135 workers in this 

prawn farm were among those killed on 28.01.1987. The military shot dead 24 

people who took refuge in the Kokkadichcholai rice mill. Seven of those killed were 

aged 12 years old. 

Sellathurai Ravinathan was a watchman at the Prawn Farm. On the day of the 

massacre, Ravinathan was on the day shift. His account of the incident is as follows: 

“I left for work early in the morning. Unlike normal, that morning there were 2 or 3 

helicopters circling in the air. I knew something was going to happen. I ran to the 

Prawn Farm, together with many other men. We all believed that because the 

Prawn Farm was owned by Westerners, we would be safe there. We had been 

caught and questioned twice before by the Army but we were allowed to go. We 

therefore ran there hoping it would give some protection. 

At the junction, there was a large military vehicle. Army started jumping off and 

running onto the road. This was the first time we knew what the STF looked like. All 

the SLA that were on the road, were pointing their guns towards the Prawn Farm. 

One man stood up, pointed his gun and came towards us. The two or three people 

that were with us saw this and bent down and slowly went the other way through 

the water. Ambikaipatham said, "Don’t run. If you do they will shoot everyone". 

We softly whispered and told them to come back. They came back. 

People from Muthalaikuda, Munaikadu, Mahiladitheevu, Ambalanthurai were all 

caught up in here. Narayanapillai was returning from the fields and ran into the 

Prawn Farm. The first bullet was aimed at him and it hit him. Three army 

personnel came to the place where we were. They shouted and told us all to gather 

in one place. Whilst everyone was trembling with fear, they fired their gun once. 

Everyone ran away from that spot. I took cover behind the little huts that were in 

the Prawn Farm. A young boy called Theivanayagam ran before us. We heard 

sudden gun fire. We don’t know what happened to him. I immediately took 

protection in the small river. A young boy called Nesathurai did the same in front of 

me. In the meantime, the Army turned the vehicle towards the direction people had 

run and started fire. They shot the little children who were in the Prawn Farm 

looking after the little birds. These poor children would come very early in the 

morning to make sure that no birds attacked the prawns that were being farmed. 

They hoped that they would get something - however little - in return for this. How 

could they shoot such poor little children? 

I removed the clothes that I was wearing and ran through the small Kanna Forest. 

As I was running, I heard gun fire. After a little while, I heard no noise from the 

direction of the Prawn Farm. I thought that I should return and have a look at what 

had happened. As I was about to do this, an old man stopped me and said, 

"Brother, please don’t go back they have shot every one". 

My elder brother, who witnessed this massacre, lost his mind for three or four 

days.” 



42


52. Paddithidal massacre 26.04.1987 

Paddithidal is a Tamil village and it is 

situated 10 Kms from Mutur in 

Trincomalee. The village is in the 

Mallikaithivu Assistant Government 

Agent division. From the beginning of 

1987 there were military attacks in the 

area. 

On 26.04.1987, there were clashes 

between the Sri Lankan military and the LTTE near the Mallikaithivu junction. 

Three Sri Lankan military personnel were killed in this clash. Among these killed 

were Kanifa, a Muslim home guard. To take revenge for this the military entered 

the Paddithidal village and searched. People had already left the village suspecting 

that the military will attack the civilians if they face defeat at the hands of the 

LTTE. One Christian family of 16 members was praying as they continued to stay 

in the village. 

The military opened fire at those praying. They burnt the people still struggling 

after the shooting. All 16 members of the family were killed. Three babies and 

several children were among those killed. One family member, Konan Ulaganatan 

escaped death. 

“My name is Ulaganathan. I was born and I grew up in 

Paddiththidal. On Sunday 24 th of April 1987, I went to 

church on my own. My family did not accompany me. 

On the way back I saw that the families in the village 

were running and hiding. I tried to see if my family was 

amongst them. Thinking that perhaps my family had 

gone in another direction to hide, I decided that I would 

go home and check anyway. I heard bomb blasts. I was 

very scared of what might have happened. 

I ran back to my house. I saw that my house was burning. As I was wondering 

where my family could have gone, I reached the front door step and saw that every 

single person in my family was dead. My wife, 2 daughters, big brother, his wife, 

his 5 kids, my wife's big sister and 3 kids, my mother and my younger sister were all 

in there. 

In desperation, I tried to kill myself in the fire - but the two people with me – 

grabbed me before I could. They took me away to the place in which they were 

hiding and kept me there. 

I returned the next day and tried to make sense of how they had died. My youngest 

daughter looked like she had been eating rice at the time. She was leaning against 

the door with a bullet through her head. I was just able to work out that it was my 

youngest daughter because it was a very small face. 



43


There was no one left in the village, they had all run away. I put all the bodies in a 

cart, and took them to a forest. I dug a big pit. I tipped over the cart and all the 

bodies fell into the pit. I covered them all up with sand. 

My elder aunty, who had come to the village as a refugee, told me that she was with 

my family at the time. This is her account of what happened. She ran to warn them 

to hide and then ran away and hid in the banana trees in our house. 

Before the army got there, they (my family) all took out their identity cards. The 

army did not even look at their identity cards. The army took their guns and shot 

everyone. She could hear people pleading to not be killed and then there was 

silence. The army set the house alight and left. 

When she went back to house to see if anyone was even remotely alive, so that she 

could try and save any of them – they were all dead. Everyone had been shot or cut. 

As the house was burning, she did not stay there any longer than she had to”. 

53. Thonithiddamadu massacre 27.05.1987 

Thonithiddamadu village is situated in 

the Vaharai Assistant Government 

Agent Division in the Batticaloa 

district. This is a Tamil majority 

village. The main economic activities 

of the villagers are farming and 

fishing. This village had nurtured and 

safeguarded its own ancient art forms 

and culture. This village is one of 

those villages in Batticaloa that is 

bounded by Sinhala villages. People went to the neighbouring Sinhala villages to 

purchase their daily needs. 

On 25.05.1987, the Sri Lankan military opened fire in the Thonithiddamadu village. 

Frightened people kept to their homes. 

On 27.05.1987 at 2.00am at night, the military entered the village and shot and 

killed people who were asleep. Thirteen people were killed in this massacre. 

54. Alvai temple shelling 29.05.1987 

Alvai village is situated in Jaffna 

district. The Muthtumariamman temple 

in Alvai is one of the famous temples in 

Jaffna. 

On 29.05.1987, the Sri Lankan military 

launched its operation liberation attack 

on Jaffna. Attacks were carried out from 

the Palaly military camp, and from air 



44


and sea. Through pamphlets dropped from air and through the announcement in the 

military radio service from Palaly, people were asked to take refuge in temples. 

Some people had taken refuge in the Muthimariamman temple. The temple was 

filled with around 10,000 people from the villages of Alvai, Inparuddi, Thikkam, 

Vathiri, Nelliadi, Thampasiddi, Puloly and Karaveddi. Since the temple was big 

with broad corridors it was able to accommodate all the people. 

On that fatal day the temple was overflowing with people. At 11.00pm a shell fired 

by the military fell on a tree in front of the temple. Some people sitting under the 

tree were injured. The next shell fell inside the temple many were killed including 

women and children. The following shells fell in another part of the temple killing 

two young men seated there. The three shells falling inside the temple causing 

deaths created panic among the people. 40 people died inside the temple and many 

were injured. 

55. Eastern University massacre 23.05.1990 

The Eastern University is in the 

Vantharumulai village in 

Batticaloa. This is one of the 

13 universities in the island. At 

any given year about 3000 

students will be enrolled in this 

university. 

the Eastern University. 

In 1990, following Sri Lankan 

military attacks on people, 

people from many regions of 

Batticaloa have taken refuge in 

On 23.05.1990, large number of Sri Lankan military arrived from the 

Saththurukondan military camp at the Eastern University. They arrested 58 young 

men tied their hands and legs and took them to the neighbouring villages. There 

they were all killed. The military came again on 24.05.1990 and arrested another 

168 people who had taken refuge at the Eastern University. They were also killed in 

a similar manner to the earlier massacre. 

226 people were killed in these days by the Sri Lankan military. 

56. Sammanthurai massacre 10.06.1990 

Sammanthurai village is situated in the 

Sammanthurai Assistant Government Agent 

Division in the Amparai district. The village has 

large paddy fields. Ancient temples like the 

Kannaki Amman temple and the Kali temple are 

located in this village. 



45


10.06.1990, Muslim groups with help from the Sri Lankan military attacked the 

people of this village. When the people attempted to escape by running away, the 

military opened fire at the people. 37 people were killed and many more were 

injured. 

57. Xavierpuram massacre 07.08.1990 

Xavierpuram, Amparai is the 

name of the settlement 

where the 'Kurawar' tribe 

lived from 1950. 

On the 7 th of August 1990 

the community of Kurawar 

were attacked, their homes 

burnt and their youths shot 

dead. Men and women were 

tortured and the church, 

school and community hall 

were burnt. There was no provocation for such an attack on the Kurawar. Later the 

attackers were identified as Muslim home guards. They carried out the attacks 

following an allegation that the LTTE had established contact with the Kurawar. 

In her sworn statement, Miniakkah describes the attack on Xavierpuram in the 

following manner: 

“It was about 11o'clock in the forenoon of 7 th August 1990, when some people were 

having their first meal for the day while others were preparing it when the attackers 

arrived. Along Neethai Road 18 tractors came one behind the other, carrying a 

large number people armed with guns, knives, sticks, clubs and axes. They stopped 

at the centre of the village, and called out the people - men, women and children- to 

assemble before them. The attackers, carrying guns, were in military fatigues. Their 

appearance foreboded evil. 

The people of Xavierpuram became excited. The men, who were eating stopped 

eating, washed their hands and rushed to the place where men with guns stood. 

Together with my husband and two children, my son and daughter, I went to the 

place where we were asked to assemble. We were able to identify the men in 

uniform as home guards (Muslims) and the others from the Akkaraipattu area who 

had accompanied the home guards. 

An eyewitness said: 

“While we stood before the Muslim home guards and the hooligans who 

accompanied them, they (home guards) seized my only son and began torturing 

him. Another seized Jayaraja who was also a youth from my community and 

continued torturing both. 



46


My husband could not bear to see his only son being brutally tortured. He sprang 

up and protested and I too raised cries. Thereupon, one of them armed with wooden 

pestle dealt a blow on the chest of my husband he fell down unconscious; he fell 

down like an uprooted tree. I rushed to my husband and lifted his head. Another 

person struck me on my head with a weapon. I remember blood gushing from my 

head before I fell unconscious. 

Those who survived the attack fled to Thirukovil carrying the injured. They carried 

nothing with them and ran with the clothes on their back. Some of them had had no 

meal from the previous day. 

Later when I opened my eyes, I found myself on a hospital bed, along with several 

others from my village. It was late in the afternoon, around 4 p.m. I tried to 

recollect what had happened but could not. Anxious relatives came to see me and I 

asked for my family members. I was told that a number of people were killed by the 

home guards and the Muslims and our houses were set on fire with petrol and 

kerosene. All the people had fled from the village, but some were preparing to go 

back to Xavierpuram to perform the last rites for the dead whose mortal remains 

were lying scattered. 

Something urged me to return with the crowd to Xavierpuram. Despite my weak 

condition, I left the hospital ward, traced my husband who was equally in pain, and 

together with about 20 men, traveled in a tractor belonging to one member of our 

tribe. I was petrified when I saw my son's body lying near the channel with bullet 

wounds. There were two other bodies beside his strewn around. 

The eerie calm of the destroyed village with the burnt houses sent terror through 

me. The charred remains of the houses reminded me of ghosts. We made a quick 

return to Thirukovil.” 

Massana, another victim of the attack is an ageing woman of the Kurawar tribe 

living in Xavierpuram. A grandmother, she said that she knew most of the attackers. 

Some of them were paddy cultivators in the area around where she lived. They not 

only killed, maimed and injured people, but also destroyed the church, the school 

and homes of a peaceful community, many of whose members worked on the paddy 

fields of the Muslims. 

After homes were lost, and lives brutally taken, some survivors could not bear to 

live with what they had seen or with what they had lost and later committed suicide. 

58. Siththandy massacre 20, 27.07.1990 

Siththandy village is situated 8 Kms 

north of the Batticaloa town. The village 

has an ancient and famous Hindu 

temple. 


rounded up the village and took all the 

people into this temple. Eight of the 



47


people were taken blindfolded with their hands tied to the villager next to him. 

There they were attacked and killed. 

In the same month, again, the Sri Lankan military took 57 young men after 

rounding up the village. The young men were taken to the adjacent villages where 

they were shot and killed and put in mass graves and burnt. 

In total 137 people were killed over these two days. The arrests and killing 

continued for several months after on a daily basis. 

Nallaiah Kamalanathan says, 

“We thought that if everyone stood in one place the Army would not kill us. So, all 

the villagers ran for safety into the temple. Within one week we had run to the 

temple twice. First it was on the 20 th of July of 1990 and then again on the 27 th . 

Sithandi villagers and Mavadivembu villagers all ran to this temple. 

The SLA surrounded the temple. They came along with Sinhala mobs. Everyone in 

the temple was asked to stand in line and they picked out the young boys. Everyone 

stood trembling. As each one of the boys were picked, their families, mothers and 

fathers, all screamed. They begged for mercy with their hands. They pleaded saying 

their difficulties. Nothing went into the ears of the Army. On the 20 th , 80 people 

were taken away in their vehicle. On the 27 th, 57 people were taken away. 2 days 

after this, all their parents went to all the Army Camps in search for them. 

Everyone denied taking the boys. Only a week later, we found out that they had 

killed everyone that they had taken away. We thought they would leave them after 

investigation. The 137 people that were taken away were taken by bus to a 

Sinhalese village. There they were asked to stand in a line. The Army announced to 

the Sinhala people that they had caught LTTE members. Then they were shot dead. 

Their bodies were never returned to us. Till this day, their mothers still cry not 

knowing what had happened to their children. The SLA, who denied without batting 

an eyelid that they did not catch or kill anyone, will one day be destroyed.” 

59. Paranthan junction massacre 24.07.1990 

Paranthan is in the Kilinochchi 

district on the A-9 highway. 

This town hosted a chemical 

factory in the past. The people’s 

main occupation is farming. 

This town was badly affected by 

the military activities in the 

1980’s. On 24.07.1990, Sri 

Lankan army was dropped by 

helicopter in Suddaithivu near 

Elephant Pass to rescue the military in Elephant Pass. This military was moving 

forward through Paranthan towards Elephant Pass. The military began attacking the 

people living near the Paranthan junction. The people killed were burnt inside their 

homes. More than 10 civilians lost their lives in this incident. Many more were 

injured. 



48


This incident took place at 9.00 am. People had displaced from the place and were 

unaware of what has happened to their relatives. They returned to their homes only 

on 07.09.1990. People recovered the half burnt bodies of their dead relatives. 

60. Poththuvil massacre 30.07.1990 

In 1990 hostilities between the Sri 

Lankan military and the LTTE 

resumed. In the east the Sri Lankan 

military, Sinhala thugs, and their 

homes guards started to attack 

Tamil civilians. 

On 10.06.1990, as a result of 

attacks by the military and Muslim 

groups, people displaced to the 

Komari refugee camp. People returned to their homes on 30.07.1990, trusting the 

promises made by the Sri Lankan military and government officials. Returning 

people found that their homes were broken into and many valuables were stolen. 

Homes were also destroyed. As a result the people displaced again to Poththuvil 

Methodist Mahavidyalayam. 

Young men and women among the refugees at the Pothuvil Methodist 

Mahavidyalayam were forced to go out for work to support their families. 12 of 

them were arrested by the military and the Muslim groups and taken to the 

Poththuvil Police Station. Those arrested were taken to the open space near the 

Police Station few at a time and were burnt alive. 

Except for a few who escaped all the rest of those arrested were burnt alive by 

01.08.1990. 125 young people died in this atrocity by the military and the Muslim 

groups. 

61. Tiraikerny massacre 06.08.1990 

Tiraikerny was originally a coconut 

estate of about 300 acres in the 

idyllic region of Amparai. The 

ownership at the time sympathized 

with the hardships of the landless 

peasantry, both Muslims and 

Tamils, at Palamunai, Oluvil, 

Meenodaikattu and Addalaichenai, 

and the estate was given to the 

people at a very nominal price of 

Rs.200/ - per acre. Various community figures, such as Nagappar Subramaniyam 

and Periya Kanapathipillai Upathiyar of Karaitivu, worked hard in developing the 

village and making it into a successful agricultural area. 



49


On the 06.08.1990, the peace and hard work of the villagers was destroyed. 

Hundreds of Muslims stormed into the village and set ablaze the homes of the 

Tamils and attacked the Tamil villagers and threw their mutilated bodies into the 

near by Hindu Temple. Statements recorded from victims and witnesses to this 

outrageous crime reveal that there was no provocation from the Tamils for such an 

attack. 

A woman witness revealed the background of the events, the intention and purposes 

leading to the attack and how it was executed: 

“I was married in 1976 and had three children - two sons, and 

a daughter. Around 6 0' clock in the morning, on the 6 th August 

1990; I heard the cries of women from the direction of my 

Muslim neighbour's house. Since we had maintained a friendly 

relationship with our Muslim neighbours, I rushed to the house 

from which the Muslim women raised cries. 

I found several women in that house and every one was in tears, weeping over the 

death of some member of the family. The women said that their men who went to the 

paddy field at Alimadakadu had been cut to pieces and slain. No one knew who the 

killers were. 

I spent about half an hour with the grieving family, I shared their sorrow but 

returned home to attend to the household chores before the children left for school. 

A few minutes after I returned home, and was busy with my work, I heard people 

shouting. Together with my husband I rushed to the gate to see what was wrong. 

We found men, women and children moving away from their homes in a state of 

excitement. They were in a state of great confusion, agitated with fear and worry. 

They told us that they were running away from an angry mob composed of Muslims 

who had vowed to destroy Thiraikerny. They were going to the Pillaiyar Temple as 

it is dangerous to remain in homes. The Tamils who were running away, warned us 

saying “do not stay here; the mob is heavily armed according to information 

received from friendly Muslims”. 

My husband was shaken by the news. When the entire population in the village was 

moving out, we saw no wisdom in staying at home. Leaving all our possessions in 

our house and keeping the doors open, we left home with the children and took 

refuge in the Pillaiyar Temple. Soon the Muslims appeared on the road at a 

distance. 

Riotous gangsters numbering more than 150 men, armed with knives, swords, 

sickles and clubs and seemingly possessed by wild and violent anger, shouted 

slogans against the Tamils, and called out the Muslims to unite to fight the Tamils. 

We were in bewilderment and spent every minute in fear. People prayed for Divine 

intervention to save the people from the apparent danger. As we looked up we saw 

clouds of smoke rising up the sky. The smoke came from the burning houses of the 

Tamils. As the goons were approaching the Temple, the people ran towards the 

Periyathambiran Temple and the mob followed. The people having resigned their 

fate watched with fear every movement of the menacing crowd of attackers. In a 

split of a second - no sooner the mob reached the Temple premise, an armored car, 

drove into the temple premise. There were six soldiers in uniform in the vehicle. 



50


The soldiers acted differently. They did not themselves take part in the attack. The 

behavior of the soldiers gave some courage to the Tamil youths to approach the 

armored car. With hands raised above their heads, they walked up to the soldiers 

and sought to plead with the soldiers to prevail on the Muslims to prevent any 

attack on the poor innocent Tamils who had sought refuge in the temple. The 

soldiers, I was told, had to stop the Muslims. The soldiers were alleged to have told 

the young men that the Tamils had killed Muslims and therefore the army cannot 

intervene. 

The soldiers waved their hands, telling the Tamil youths to go away from them, and 

that waving of their hands was taken as a signal for the attackers to begin their 

assault. First they began desecrating the Temple. Some went to damage the wall 

while some others broke the door. Yet the Tamils did not say a word to the 

attackers. Some of the Muslims entered into the sanctum and came out with the 

Sacred Trident and the spear that were firmly fixed to the ground. Some took away 

the tools like knife, axe and crowbar, used in the Temple by the priests. The Tamils 

were later attacked with the Trident, the spear, and the tools taken away from the 

Temple. 

The attackers first assaulted the men seated on the ground with knifes. Those who 

were in the rear escaped. In the melee that followed the attack, even some of the 

injured ran away, but did not return alive. My husband was attacked with knife and 

he died there. The people wondered whether it was a joint attack of the Army and 

the Muslims - such attacks had occurred in the Tamils areas previously. The arrival 

of the soldiers at the Hindu temple premises had an impact. The goons appeared 

very happy and they shouted in jubilation. 

As the attackers were busy mauling the innocents, sharp reports of fire-arms were 

heard from the main trunk road. The soldiers who had come over to Thiraikerny to 

witness the annihilation of the Tamils fled in their armored car. 

When the armored vehicle left, the attackers too fled, crying out. 'Tigers are coming 

to attack us'. When they had all fled, I looked around, and found several of my 

people dead and among those killed was not only men but also women and 

children. A very young mother known as Vijeyaluxmy and her infant too were 

killed. 

A contingent of the police - the Special Task Force (STF) came in a number of 

vehicles. They had come there firing all the way. We realized that it is their firing 

that drove away the soldiers and the attackers. They saw the large number that had 

been murdered and injured. The women, who had been frozen from shock and fear, 

were unable to speak. There was blood and flesh strewn all around. In the midst of 

piercing shrill cries and screams of the injured, the chief of the STF promised 

protection and help to all victims.” 

**According to a sworn statement, a little girl was seized and raped, and 

thereafter, thrown into the fire. Rescuers recovered the half-burnt body and buried 

it. 



51


62. Kalmunai massacre 11.08.1990 

Kalmunai is situated 40 Kms from the 

Batticaloa town. Pandiruppu, 

Natpiddimunai, Chenaikudiyiruppu, 

and Nilavanai are villages 

surrounding Kalmunai. 

On 11.08.1990, villagers from 

Pandiruppu, Kalmunai and 

Chenaikudiyiruppu were gathered in 

homes in fear as the Sri Lankan 

military rounded up these villages and began shooting. The military was shooting 

into the homes forcing people to come out. 

Young men carried their national identity card in their hands. Mothers held tight 

onto their babies. 25 young men were taken by the military from the Kalmunai 

village to the Karaithivu military camp. Mothers who followed the young men 

being taken by the military were attacked with gun butts and many mothers fainted 

and fell down. 

Next day relatives of the young men walked to the Karaithivu camp through the 

Kalmunai town. The military in the town stopped them and made them stand by the 

road side. Large number of military arrived at the scene and selected the young 

women among the relatives. They were taken to a building near by where they were 

gang raped and killed. Men were tortured on the road and killed. All together 37 

people were killed in two hours in this manner. 

None of the 25 young men taken to the Karaithivu military camp have been seen 

since. In total 62 people were killed in these two days by the Sri Lankan military. 

63. Thuranilavani massacre 12.08.1990 

Thurainilavanai village is situated 

in the Batticaloa district. On 

12.08.1990, morning, Sri Lankan 

military from the Nilavanai- 

Kallaru camp rounded up the 

Nilavanai village and opened fire 

on the people. More than 60 

people were killed. 



52


64. Eravur hospital massacre 12.08.1990 

On 11, 08.1990, Sri Lankan 

military rounded up the 

villages of Chenkaladi and 

Kiran and opened fire on the 

villagers. More than 10 

civilians who were injured 

were admitted in the Eravur 

hospital. 

On 12.08.1990, the 

hospitalized civilians at the 

Eravur hospital were hacked 

to death by the Sri Lankan 

military and Muslim groups between 11.00am till 12.00 noon. 

65. Koraveli massacre 14.08.1990 

Koraveli and Eechaiyadithivu 

villages are in the Batticaloa 

district. These villages are blessed 

with natural beauty and resources. 

Most of the people were farmers in 

these villages. 

increase. 

In the beginning of 1990 violence 

against civilians by the military and 

the Muslim groups were on the 

On 14.05.1990 at noon, military came from the Chenkalady and Kallady military 

camps and rounded up the Koraveli and Eechayadithivu villages. The military 

opened fire on the villagers at home and working in the fields. 15 civilians were 

killed and 25 were injured in this attack by the military. 



53


66. Nelliyadi market bombing 29.08.1990 

Nelliyadi is a small town in the 

Vadamaradchi region of Jaffna 

district. It is 3 Km from the Point 

Pedro town. Nelliyadi market served 

the 25,000 families living in this 

area. 

On 29.08.1990, two bombers and an 

Avro belonging to the Sri Lankan 

military dropped bombs on this 

market at 9.30 am when the market was busy with people. 

16 civilians including children were killed by this bombing. Another 24 civilians 

were injured. 

67. Eravur massacre 10.10.1990 

Thankarasa Iyanar says, 

“On 10th August 1990, from 10am that morning, Doctor 

Shanmuganath and his wife Rani and I, went to see my son 

who had been captured at Karathivu Shanmuga School. 

In town they stopped many people and left. They returned 

after some time and told us to separate into Muslims and 

Tamils. The Muslims left soon after. 

They called the men in one direction. We were wondering where they were taking 

us. They told us to go into a room. We were scared. The Doctor’s wife ran into the 

room and pleaded with the army to not hurt the Doctor. She was dragged away. 

There was a man standing there with a knife. – But I did not know this. He grabbed 

my hair – because I had oil his hand slipped. He had tried to cut my head, but 

because his hand slipped, he cut my neck. I fell to the floor. I thought I would die, 

that’s how badly I was hurt. 

Dr Shunmuganathan and a few others 

were cut and killed. As I was lying 

there, I could hear all the screams 

and violence. It was unbearable. But I 

had no other choice. 

After some time, a lady was brought 

in shouting. She seemed young. Her 

sari had already been removed in 

another room. An army took her 

inside a room and raped her. She pleaded to be let go and that she would not tell 



54


anyone what happened. Another army ordered that she be cut. I don’t know what 

they did - but I heard no sounds thereafter. Then he left. 

I could not bear to be there. I kept hearing awful noises of people being tortured. As 

I was thinking what I was going to do – the army returned with weapons and killed 

anyone who was breathing or making a slight noise. 

They put oil or it may have been kerosene on everyone and burnt them. The fire 

jumped to my legs. I tried to pat the fire out but couldn’t. I could not stand up or lift 

my leg. Eventually I lifted my head up with my hands and managed to crawl into the 

room where they had taken the girl. 

I just sat there thinking for some time. I could hear all the plane sounds. I saw the 

ladies sari just on the floor. I tore it in half. I tied it on my head and covered my 

face and neck. Outside the fire was burning above my head. There were arms, legs 

and heads everywhere. But I had to keep going. So I just climbed over all of them 

and left.” 

68. Saththurukkondan massacre 09.09.1990 

There, the women were raped, and their 

breasts were cut off. 68 children, among 

them five babies were also tortured and 

murdered. 205 people were killed in this 

massacre. 

Only one man, 21 year old Kanthasamy 

Krishnakumar escaped being killed and 

informed the others about what has 

happened. 

Saththurukondan is a village in Batticaloa district. 

Sathurukoddan is not very far from Batticaloa town. This 

village comprises Pannichaiaddy, Pillayarady and Oorani. 

On the 10.09.1990, military arrested several people and 

took them to the military camp. Among those arrested 

were 85 women and many children. The arrested people 

were taken to the Sri Lanka army camp at the 

Saththurukondan. 

At an inquiry into the massacre, the Officer in Charge of the camp, Captain Gamini 

Varnakula Sooriya said “On that day no search or arrest was conducted by us.” He 

also reiterated that none of his men even ventured out of the camp on the day of the 

massacre. The military also threatened and forced the President of Citizens 

Committee, Arunakirinathan, to sign an affidavit saying no such incident took 

place. Arunakirinathan resigned from his pots following this forced affidavit. 

Mrs. SS lost 35 blood relations, almost her entire family. Her account of the 

massacre is as follows, 



55


“On a Sunday evening, the army and the Muslim thugs rounded up our village and 

took thirty-five people including three handicapped teenagers. The Muslim thugs 

started assaulting the people. 

On the previous day, some of our people knew that the army was going to round up 

Pannichaiaddy and Pillayarady. In order to escape from this round up, many 

people went to Kuddyeruppu. Then the soldiers took 10 people from Kuddyeruppu. 

They brought everyone near Pillayarady. There were about 185 people. They took 

everyone to a covered area in Vincent Depot. Then we couldn't see anything. But we 

heard people shouting and screaming with firing in between. After a few minutes we 

saw the flames blazing. Bodies were burning till the morning. They had shot and 

hacked 184 people to death. Those who were taken on a pretext that they would be 

released after an inquiry were in flames. 

For a few days, no-one was allowed to go near the depot. After a week, we went to 

the army camp and enquired about the whereabouts of the members of our family. 

They said that they never came to our village and they never took anyone. What else 

can we do other than ask the army? There is no guarantee that this will not happen 

again. So I decided to move to Karadianaru for my safety. 

There is only one survivor - Kanthasamy Krishnakumar. He saw everyone being cut 

with big knives and thrown into the fire. When he was cut with a knife by a soldier, 

he fell down and pretended to have died. But before he was thrown into the fire, he 

got up and ran away. They couldn't catch him.” 

69. Natpiddymunai massacre 10.09.1990 

Natpiddymunai is a village in the 

Amparai district located 3 Kms from the 

Kalmunai town. 

On 10.09.1990, the Special Task Force 

of the Sri Lankan police, surrounded this 

village, forcefully entered the homes and 

arrested 23 young men and took them to 

the Kalmunai STF camp. 

The bodies of these young men were found in a mass grave in the Thampuluvil 

village on 12.09.1990. 

70. Vantharamullai90 massacre 05, 23,09,1990 

In 1990, more than 50,000 Tamils from Sungankerny, Karuvakerny and 

Bandaramulai villages all came to Eastern University, Batticaloa to flee from the Sri 

Lanka Armed Forces. On the 5 th September 1990, the SLA arrived, and arrested 158 

innocent civilians and massacred them. On the 23 rd of September 1990, the SLA 

came again and arrested a further 16 Tamils and massacred them. 



56


The university lecturers responded 

quickly and provided the 

university as a place of refuge for 

the fleeing people. They raised 

white flags to ensure that the SLA 

would not come inside and harm 

anyone. However, their efforts 

were in vain. 

Varnakulasingam is one of the 

lectures. His account of the 

incident is as follows, 

“People who ran to Vantharamullai University in fear of the SLA were immediately 

received and consoled. I was one of the people that helped change this place into a 

refugee camp. Dr Vadivel Mohan also worked very hard to make this possible. 

The Army had started cutting people in Valaichennai village near Vantharumullai. 

People all ran to the University for Refuge. In this village 48 people were taken 

away to Valaichennai Main Road. At the Main Road, there was a bottle shop. 

Beside this there was a garden which belonged to Selvanayagam. They took the 

captured people to this garden. They dug up the ground with a bulldozer. They shot 

these 48 people, threw them in the pit and closed them. If you dig there, many truths 

will unfold. The bulldozer followed closely behind as they killed everyone. We could 

not work out where they had thrown the bodies. 

They went into Sungankerny, Kavuvakerny and Kondayankerny. There they killed, 

shot and tortured anyone they could. The people who escaped from this all ran and 

stayed in the University. 

We believed that the army would not come in here. I was in charge of the hostel at 

the University. Students from Vavuniya, Kilinochchi, and Mullaitivu helped us. One 

of the boys who worked very closely with us named Pirabaharan was cut and killed 

by the Army. I think he was a student from Vavuniya. We knew if we left the 

University, they would hit and kill us, so we just stayed there with all the people. 

Everyone was screaming and crying in fear. We told them not to worry that the 

Army would not come to the University. Within one week 50,000 people came to 

this university as refugees. Every building was full of people. 

It took the Army 7 days to reach Vantharamullai from Valaichennai. Till then, they 

slowly went into every village on the way and killed and cut everyone they could. 

We did not know if they would arrive today or tomorrow. We waited trembling in 

fear. We had heard about what had happened at Vallaichannai. Because of this 

everyone was very scared. We, the lecturers, closed the gate of the University and 

stood at the entrance. If they came, they would come by road and we would talk to 

them and not let them go inside. As we stood bravely, the army approached. 

Thinking that they were only on the road, we turned around to find that there were 

many armies inside the university. As the helicopters circled above, our staff all 

stood on the road. Army superiors who had come by road approached us and spoke 

to us. We had already placed signs in Sinhalese and Tamil to tell the army not to 

enter the place of refuge. The army commander asked us where the people inside 

were from. The people were from 6 villagers from Vallaichennai to Arumuhathan 



57


Kuddiyirruppu. Whilst this was happening, two buses came. They asked everyone 

inside to stand in line. Thangamani Chettiyar from Vallaichennai was with me at 

that time. He was a good man. Two Muslims named Muthalali and Kalil were with 

the Army. They both knew me and Chettiyar very well. They used to borrow 

Chettiyar’s vehicle and drive it often. He prayed to them with his two hands. They 

picked out 138 boys from those that were standing in line and made them get on the 

bus. Both of the buses left. We knew they were going towards Valaichennai, but 

nothing else. The mother and fathers all screamed. We did not understand anything. 

Chettiyar, Dr Jayasingam, head lecturer Manosabaratnam and I took down the 

names of the 138 boys. Though we had their names, we did not know who we could 

ask to find out where they had gone. Every camp we asked denied having the boys. 

Within 4 days, I walked along the sea shore to my house in Vallaichennai. At my 

house, they surrounded the house and caught me. This happened around 8pm. They 

took me to Navalladi Army Camp. I later found out that Ratnamalai the person in 

charge of the camp studied with me. I did not recognize him, but he recognized me. 

By the time I got there, they had tied up 13 from my village to the sentry point with 

one long string. These men had been previously caught. On the 3 rd day, they hit 

them all and killed them. My head started spinning as I watched this torture. Before 

they killed them, the person in charge of the camp came. He sat on a chair and 

asked for the rope that was tied around everyone to be removed. He lit a cigarette 

and told everyone to take turns to smoke it. He asked them if they were tigers. By 

the time they had finished smoking the cigarette; their hands had been tied up 

again. A short time after this, one of the Army started playing a ‘baila’ song which 

made fun of Tamil people very loudly. All the army was in a state of intoxication. 

Whilst they were dancing, some other army personnel came with sticks, axes, and 

iron bars. They started hitting all the people randomly. For few minutes, they were 

screaming and blood was bleeding from their whole body. Some heads were broken 

into pieces, some hands and legs were cut off – within a few minutes there was no 

noise. All 13 were hacked to death. Then they put all the bodies in a pit and burned 

those bodies with tires and firewood. 

From this incident I presume that the same thing must have happened to all 138 

people who were arrested in the campus. In Navaladdy camp, there were a lot of 

pits. If these pits are excavated the number of people who were killed in this camp 

could be discovered. 

Later they asked me and another person to go and sleep in a room. How can I sleep 

after seeing the cold blooded massacre? I didn’t have a wink of sleep the whole 

night. 

During my stay in that camp, I had seen some Muslims coming into that camp with 

their hats on. Then they removed the hats and went with the army for various 

activities against the Tamils in those areas. 

I was petrified for during the nine days in that camp. Then I was released with a 

warning that I should not disclose those matters to anyone outside or I would face 

the same consequences. 

Soon after my release, I went along with my colleagues to Kondayankerny camp to 

find out as to what had happened there. There we saw a pit covered and by the side 



58


of the pit, there were ladies cloths including underwear. We also saw children's 

clothes. Then we knew, what had happened there for the women who were taken 

into custody. It is believed that forty eight people were buried in this camp. 

To my knowledge, the killings continued for a week in the villages of Sithanddy, 

Kondayankerny, Vantharumulai, Iyankerny, Sathurukoddan and Karuvakerny. 

Hundreds of people were killed. There are a few survivors who are eye witness to 

these killings. But they are scared to reveal these secrets to outsiders. They were 

warned by the soldiers not to disclose anything to anyone. If they did so, they would 

face the same fate. 

One Lt. Killed was the person who master-minded all these killings. Now he is a 

Captain. I know how he killed one Jeyaveran who is known to me. That camp was 

next to a mosque. Jeyaveran's head was hit against the mosque wall. As he was not 

killed, he brought a big baton and killed him by hitting him on his forehead. 

At Oddumavaddy Bridge, many were hacked to death by the soldiers with the help 

of some Muslims. If someone can get hold of Muslims at Oddumavaddy, you can get 

the whole truth of these massacres. The name of these perpetrators, the names and 

number of victims, the places where the offences were committed etc.” 

He concluded by saying that one day all these mass graves will be opened and it 

will be proved to the world that thousands of Tamils were hacked to death in 

Batticaloa by the Army. 

71. Mandaithivu disappearances 23.08.1990, 25.09.1990 

The three villages, Mandaitivu, Allaipiddy 

and Mankumban (M-A-M), are situated 

just across the Dutch Fort in Jaffna. From 

here the Sri Lankan military launched its 

operations. The majority of the people in 

the M-A-M villages were farmers, 

fishermen and toddy tappers. Prior to 1990 

it was economically prosperous. 


military dropped notices from air 

ordering people not to stay in their 

homes and to go to churches and 

temples. People were thus taking 

refuge in temples, churches and 

schools. The military entered the 

villages on 23.08.1990 and killed 

everyone who did not go to the 

temples, churches and schools. 20 

people were brutally killed in this 

manner. 



59


On 23 th August 1990 close to 500 young men between the ages of 15 and 45 were 

taken away from the PhilipNeri’s church in Allaipiddy. Hundreds of families had 

taken refuge in churches, temples and mosques after instruction from the military. 

This is the imagery created by the narratives of the families: The entire village took 

refuge in the church. The army came and rounded up hundreds of able-bodied men 

and took them away, tied together. The woman screamed and ran behind, begging 

the army to leave them. The Army threatened the woman with guns, shot over their 

heads and physically beat them back. Meanwhile, the army instructed the children 

to recite, “We don’t want Tamil Eeelam”. 

Most of the men were later released little by little over a period of 10 days or so. 

Again the army arrived early in the morning on 23 rd August 1990 to a school and a 

Pillaiyar temple in Mankumban where the people were told to go. People were still 

asleep. The armed men hit the sleeping young men on the head and ordered them to 

get up. Sisters gave their babies to their brothers to hold in the hope that it will save 

their brothers. The story repeats. 

Less than two months after this second roundup the entire military camp 

disappeared from the villages together with around 70 young men. What exactly 

happened to these men is still not known to this day. 

All the families speak of the presence of Douglas Devananda, the leader of the 

militant EPDP group that has now become a political party, and the late army 

commander Denzil Kobbekaduwa at the site. Families also speak of the assurance 

given by Douglas Devananda to the families that their children will be safe. 

The Jesuratnam family who are looking for three of their sons have the most 

detailed story to tell about the role of Douglas Devananda in this disappearance: 

They met Douglas Devananda in the first week of June 1991. He got the particulars 

and then told them that he will go to Anuradhapura and will inform the family. The 

family went to Anuradhapura about ten times between 1991 and 1992 to meet 

Denzil Kobbekaduwa and succeeded in meeting him five times. When the family 

contacted Denzil Kobbekaduwa on 17 th June 1991, he asked the family whether 

they have contacted Douglas Devananda about their children. Again on 13 th May 

1992 Kobbekaduwa told them that he would visit the M-A-M villages and after that 

he will show the children to the family. They met Douglas again on 25 th June 1992 

when he assured them that he would speak to the family after a visit to the M-A-M 

villages. 

The family was called by the 1995 Presidential Commission of Inquiry. Theirs is 

the only family from the M-A-M villages that managed to attend the inquiry. This is 

because they were in Colombo and managed to get a date in Colombo. All the other 

families were displaced to Vanni during the period of the inquiry and were not 

contactable due to the communication and transport difficulties under the war 

situation. This family’s inquiry was held on 12 th June 1996. At the inquiry the three 

commissioners instructed the family to ask Douglas Devananda about their 

children. They also promised to inquire from Douglas Devananda and inform the 

family but the family did not hear anything from the Commissioners after that. 



60


A total of 92 people were either killed or disappeared on these two dates. The 

bodies of some of them are suspected to be in the covered wells in Mandaithivu to 

which civilians cannot enter. Locals suspect the actual toll on these days is much 

higher. 

Below are some excerpts about the role of Douglas Devananda in this affair from 

what other families have said: 

Ratman Jeyaseelan’s brother-in-law says: 

“My mother-in-law (Ratman’s mother) and I went and spoke to Douglas 

Devananda. We asked him to release Rattu since he is a boy who does not have a 

father. Douglas said “He is a good child and we will not do anything to him. We are 

keeping him only to transport water”. ... Rattu’s van is sandalwood colour. After 

that whenever I see the van at a distance I run towards it. When I go there Douglas 

Devananda will be there. They will be transporting water. When Rattu’s mother is 

there she will beg for Rattu’s release. Douglas will say ‘Amma why do I need your 

boy. I will keep him until we capture the Fort and then I will release him.” 

S Jeyakumar‘s sister Vimaladevi says: 

“Douglas came. We begged and cried to him. He told us ‘Amma your boys are not 

with the army. We are keeping them. We will let them go soon’. His men then gave 

rice and other dry rations to us at the junction. We told them that we do not want 

anything and to just give us our children back. To this he consoled us by saying, 

‘Amma did I not say that they are with me. Why are you still asking? I will relax 

when I give them back to you. I will give them before the 24th of next month’. We 

were confident that our boys would be released. So we took the rations and went 

back. This happened 2 or three times. ... Army was in the Fort. We heard that when 

that army came they killed all our boys. Once we asked Douglas at the junction 

about this and he said, ‘Amma I took the responsibility. They will not do anything to 

them. Do not worry.” 

Reetamma, mother of S Selvanayagam shares her account of what happened the day 

her son was taken away: 

“Selvanayagam was 25 years old when he was taken away. He was fishing for his 

livelihood. They took my son-in-law as well and he was released the next day. He 

said that he saw Selvanayagam at the Aluminium factory drinking water next day I 

went with the other parents to see the army. My husband is sickly, therefore I went 

everywhere to search and complain. Douglas Devananda was at the Aluminum 

factory. We pleaded, begged and screamed to let our children go. They said they 

are keeping our children in Mandaitivu. Douglas kept saying that he will release 

them tomorrow. In reality they had no plans to release our children. 

My son was 25 when he disappeared and he looked like a prince. When he was 

young he got sick a lot and I took him everywhere for treatment. It would have been 

easier to bear it if my son died of illness. 

I cried to the army that my son is the only one who can take care of my family. My 

son wanted to give his sister away in marriage and give her a good life. Once he 

went the entire family was broken and destroyed.” 



61


72. Oddisuddan bombing 27.11.1990 

Oddisuddan is a village in the 

Mullaithivu district and is the centre of 

the Oddisuddan Assistant Government 

Agent division. Of the many 

Thanthonreeswarar temples in the 

Northeast one is located in this village. 

There is a dense settlement surrounding 

this temple. In addition to farming, 

manufacture of roof tiles is also a major 

industry in this area. The centre of this village is almost like a little town. 

On 27.11.1990, Sri Lankan Air Force bombed the area surrounding the temple 

killing 12 civilians and injuring many more. 

73. Puthukkudiyiruppu junction bombing 

Puthukkudiyiruppu junction is located 20 

Kms from Mullaithivu town. The junction 

houses a commercial area that serves the 

people of the region. The area surrounding 

the junction has a dense settlement of 

people. 

After 1980, people from several other 

regions of the Northeast were displaced to 

Puthukkudiyiruppu. Most of the displaced people were from, Mullaithivu, 

Manalaru, Kokkilai, Kokkuthoduvai, Karunaddukkerni and Thennamaravadi 

villages who were forced out by attacks of the Sri Lankan military, and Sinhala 

settlement supported by the same military. 

In 1991, more than 1500 refugees were housed in the Subramaniuam Vidhyalayam 

School near Puthikkudiyiruppu. 

On 30.01.1991, at 5.30 pm, Sri Lankan Air Force bombers dropped bombs around 

the Puhukkudiyiruppu junction. 

20 bodies were recovered from the area. 50 people were taken to the hospital with 

injuries. Because the daylight was ending not all bodies could be recovered the 

same night. Seriously injured civilians were sent to the Jaffna hospital the same 

night. However, three of the injured died on the way to the Jaffna hospital. 

Five more bodies were recovered the next day. In total 28 people were killed in the 

bombing. 8 of those killed were displaced people. One of the full term mothers who 

jumped into a bunker to escape the bombing gave birth to a baby with damaged 

vertebra and is unable to walk. 



62


74. Vankalai massacre 17.02.1991 

Vankalai is a coastal village in the 

Mannar district. Following the 

blowing up of the road bridge at the 

main entry point into Mannar as well 

as the Railway Bridge into Mannar, 

people from Mannar traveled to 

Colombo by sea from Thalvuppadu 

through Katpiddi. 

In this situation, the people of 

Vankalai displaced from their village, unable to bear the harassments of the Sri 

Lankan military. The military forcefully evicted those who have not displaced on 

their own. The military then removed all the valuable things from the homes and 

send to their own homes in the south of the island. 

It was in this situation that the Principal of the Vankalai Mahavidyalayam school, 

Sebamalai, a teacher from Vankalai, Justin Lambert, and a few others went to 

Colombo through Katpiddy to purchase some items for their homes. They were 

returning from Colombo on 16.02.1991. They arrived at Thalvuppadu and spend the 

night there. Next day at 10.00 am they started their trip to Kaththankulam through 

Vankalai on bicycles. 

When they arrived at the Vankalai junction, Sebamalai, Lambert, another teacher 

and a boy, were stopped. Their hands were tied with rope and they were blind 

folded. People who arrived at the junction after them saw this and went and 

complained to the Bishop of Mannar. Since the travelers did not arrive home even 

the next day, the Bishop and the relatives of the travelers went to the Thalladi 

military camp, obtained their permission, and arrived at the Vankalai camp to look 

for them. The military stopped the Bishop and the relatives from entering Vankalai. 

Yet, two of the relatives went to the nearby home of a teacher. Since the doors were 

open they went inside and found blood. They went behind the house and saw the 

bodies of five people in the well cut into pieces. Yet, given the situation they could 

not recover the bodies. 

When in 1993 the people of Vankalai resettled in their homes, they found that the 

well in the teacher’s house has been filled up. The skeletons of the five bodies were 

lying in front of the well. The skeletons of the five people were handed to the 

Mannar hospital by the police. It was sent to Colombo for further investigation. To 

date no further inquiries were held on the incident. 

75. Vaddakkachchi bombing 28.02.1991 

Vaddakachchi village is situated in the Kilinochchi district. The land is very fertile 

and also has good water supply for irrigation. A large acreage of the rice fields in 

this land is public property. There was a hostel in 3 rd Vaikal for those who work in 

these public lands. Five families were living in this hostel and working. 



63


On 28.02.1991, as the families 

were having breakfast in the 

morning before leaving for work 

the fields, Sri Lankan Air Force 

bombers dropped three bombs. 

One of the bombs fell on the 

hostel and exploded. 9 people 

were killed. 

hostel left the place and went elsewhere. 

The relatives of those killed, 

unwilling to continue to stay in the 

Rasaih Paramasundaram says, 

“On 28.02.1991, we were having breakfast at the Pannai hostel when Sri Lankan 

Air Force bombers dropped three bombs. One fell on the hostel. Nine people died, 

three were injured. 26 goats also died. We buried the goats and bodies of those 

killed in one hole. They were all in pieces”. 

76. Vantharumoolai 09.06.1991 


from the Mavadivembu and 

Vantharumulai military camps 

surrounded the area. The military cut 

to death four people standing at the 1 st 

Cross Street. This was followed by 

shooting dead six civilians in 

Karuvankerni. In total 10 civilians 

were killed on that day. 


On 12 th June 1991, the people of 

Kokkadichcholai suffered through 

a second massacre at the hands of 

the Sri Lankan Army. The military 

entered a rice grinding mill and 

burnt the mill together with the 17 

workers. 400 houses were damaged 

that day. More than 220 people 

were killed. Their bodies were 

burnt by the military using tires. 81 

year old Karuvalthamby Ayilpodi was in the rice mill, the day of the massacre. Her 

account is as follows: 

“I could hear blasts everywhere. I told my two sons, that we should run in the 

direction of the crowd. As I said this, the Army had reached Patha Kullakattal, 



64


firing their guns. I was unable bear the pain of watching the army catch and hurt 

all the people that came their way. They set fire to the houses and pushed people 

into the fire two by two. Kulasegaram was with me at the time. They pushed me, 

Kulasegaram and another boy into a burning house. Even though we pleaded with 

our hands – they showed us no mercy. There were many sacks of rice in the house. 

Kulasegaram jumped on top of this and jumped over the fence. He said that he 

would rather jump and break his legs and die than be burned to death. We jumped 

over the fence and hid. Having decided there was no where else to run, he said he 

would rather die there. We were surrounded by firing and crying noises. We ran 

behind the house and hid with our eyes shut tightly under the tin sheet. We could 

not forget the fear we felt when they pushed us into the burning house.” 

Muthulingam Vimaladevi speaks of the horror and torture that happened that day: 

“My elder sister’s baby was 12 days old. My elder sister said we should close the 

door and all stay inside. I said we should take the little baby and go to the mill as 

that was the direction everyone else was running in. So we took the baby and ran 

there. The mill was full. People were sitting in the middle, front and back. To stop 

the babies from crying, mothers but them to their breasts. Next door, we could hear 

bomb blasts. Everyone started saying ‘arohara’ and praying to god. The men who 

came inside started rapidly firing. Heads, stomach and necks were all being shot. I 

too pretended that I had been shot, smeared blood on myself and lay flat without 

moving. They shot everyone inside the mill. Along with my elder sister, five of us 

escaped. Because of the amount of the blood splattered everywhere, it looked as if 

everyone had died and we were able to escape. A little while after the firing 

stopped, we heard the sound of one mother crying out for her child. We stood up, 

took my elder sister’s child and ran to our next door neighbour’s house. There we 

saw people whose hands had been cut off, head had been cut and eyes had been 

gorged out. There were dead bodies of mothers who were still feeding their child. 

There was a baby smeared on the wall. The owner of the Mill, Mr. Kumaranayagam 

and his wife Puveneswary and their four children were all shot.” 

78. Pullumalai massacre 19831990 

Pullumalai in Batticaloa is a region 

immersed in natural beauty where Tamil 

people have lived for hundreds of years. 

Today, it lies barren and lifeless. The 

remains of the destroyed local school, 

temple and church have been left 

untouched as a symbol and memorial to 

the pain of those died and of those who 

survived. 

From 1983 to 1990 the SLA, together with Sinhalese mobs, tried over five times to 

destroy the village. Houses were burnt, wealth was robbed, and massacres were 

organized. There are unbelievable accounts of the rapes and systematic killings that 

took place. Over 400 families disappeared. No international or local body has 

enquired into the fate of these 400 families. 



65


In July 1983, the cows in the village were killed and wealth destroyed. In 1984, 

when the Thiruvemba pooja in December was happening at Pillayar Temple, the 

SLA shot 9 people dead. That same year 300 houses were burnt. 

On 4 th of January 1985, the SLA killed the only Engineer along with 7 others. They 

also destroyed houses and wealth. One week later on the 10 th of January, they shot 

the temple priest along with 9 others. 

On 10 th of November 1986, they returned to rape, steal, kill and burn the villagers. 

103 Tamils were cut and killed that day. 

In 1986, after they had shot 7 men in the village they used tires to burn the bodies. 

In 1987, 14 people that were fishing in the pond were shot. 

On 9 th of July 1990, once again people left the village unable to bear the atrocities 

that were committed on them. Babies were ripped open and thrown callously. Over 

40 families were shot; girls were raped, stabbed and ripped open. The witnesses of 

this torture left and have not returned till this day. 

Soosaimoththu Thambimoothu talks about unbelievable torture on the day his 

younger brother Sellathamby Perinbarasa and wife died, 

“In 1983, the SLA and the mobs joined together to set alight our houses. They took 

all the wealth in our houses away in their vehicles. Around 40 or 45 houses were 

burnt. Everyone ran with fear in the direction of the vegetable garden. We also ran 

to our vegetable garden at Mungil Malai. The SLA rounded up and took away all 

the people that had gathered at Mungil Malai. 

My younger brother and his pregnant wife were two of these people taken away. 

They took turns to rape my sister in law in front of my brother. They tied up my 

younger brother’s hands and legs, cut open his wife's stomach, took out the baby 

and trampled the baby with their legs. Right at the end, they shot my brother in the 

ear. They took his wife's naked body, placed both bodies in a position that looked 

like husband was raping the wife and left. A little way away from them, 

Yoganathan, his father Arumugam, Jeganatha and Ramayyah were shot dead. One 

of their chests was ripped open with a knife and his insides were taken out. The 

people that were captured and taken away – don’t know what happened to this 

day.” 

Kathirvelu Rasammah’s children and husband were destroyed by the SLA. In 1983, 

1984 and then in 1990 her children were all shot dead, 

“I ran behind the Army when they took my children. They told me to stop else they 

would shoot. They said they would have to carry out an investigation and then the 

children would return home. We went to the camp a little while after this. They told 

us to go home and return back tomorrow. 

When we went the next day they did not let us and so we went back again the day 

after. They told us, that they had taken our children and left them in the forest and 

that we could go and see them there. We did not go immediately because we were 

too scared. When we did go a few days later, the forest was sprawled with bodies. 

There were arms and legs strewn everywhere. We could not identify whose children 



66


they were. They had all swelled up and were into their decomposition phase. We 

were too scared to stay there and so came back. 

My son and Arumuganathan who were fishing in the pond were caught by the SLA 

and chopped up. When we went looking for our son at the pond, there too we saw 

legs and arms lying around.” 

Soosaimoothu Joseph’s account of the 1990 massacre is as follows: 

“Suddenly trucks, vehicles and tractors were used to bring the SLA who surrounded 

the village. We ran in all directions. Bullets were falling rapidly. They took 35 or 45 

people in one batch in a direction behind our house. They systematically took girls 

one by one and raped them. Even though we did not see this, the screams and pain 

of the girls were enough for us to know what had happened. There was no one there 

to save them or stay with them. Everyone ran in any direction they could. They 

came into our chicken pen and caught the chickens. I grabbed my wife and children 

and ran away. There were about 40 or 50 people running in the same direction as 

me. We ran in the forest that was beyond the pond. 

We were not able to run any more. We thought we would just remain there and die. 

My little child had a very bad cough. If the Army heard this, they would have come 

and shot everyone. Whilst we were thinking about this, the Army was coming our 

direction through the grounds. The Army at front had raised their guns and we 

thought that they had seen us and were approaching. My little child started 

coughing about the same time. 50 people were going to die because of this one 

child. So I tried to strangle the child to save these 50 people. My wife in panic 

pulled away my hand and took a handful of the milk powder that we had brought 

and shoved in the child’s mouth. The flour got stuck in the child's mouth and she 

struggled but was unable to cough. 

The Army was about 20 or 30 meters away from us and kept continuing on their 

track without stopping. We were so lucky that they did not see us. We stayed there 

till dark. When the firing stopped we went back into the village. In there we did not 

know where to look. Death was everywhere. The Peter Family and the 40 or 50 

people that had run with them were all shot dead. Girls who had been raped were 

lying naked. Babies within one year were all shot and thrown about. The 3 children 

of the Pakyanathan had their legs ripped out of them.” 

79. Kinniyadi massacre 12.07.1991 

Kinniyadi is situated in the Batticaloa 

district 45 Kms north of Valaichenai. 

People of the village are mostly 

fishermen, wood cutters and farmers. 


from the Kurumpumunai and 

Valaichenai camps rounded up this 

village and opened fire on the people. 

Military also used sharp knives to kill the people. 13 civilians were killed. Further 

details about this massacre are not yet available. 



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80. Akkarayan hospital massacre 15.07.1997 

Akkarayan village in the Kilinochchi 

district has large forest areas. 

Majority of the people are farmers. 

The village has a hospital, market, 

and places of worship to serve the 

needs of the villagers. 

When the Sri Lankan military 

launched the “Sathjeya” military 

operation from their Elephant Pass 

camp, people began displacing from their homes. The Kilinochchi district hospital, 

unable to continue its operation in Kilinochchi, shifted its operations temporarily to 

the Akkarayan hospital. 

On 15.07.1997, the military started shelling from the Elephant Pass camp. Shells 

fell on and around the Akkarayan hospital. The hospital cleaner, Kanapathy, was 

living in a quarters with his family. The entire family was either killed or injured. 

In total three people were killed and one girl, Kamalaverni, lost her leg in the 

shelling. 

Akkarayan hospital has a hall in memory of the family and is named Kanapathy 

hall. 

81. Uruthrapuram bombing 04.02.1991 

People ran in all directions trying 

finding a safe place. The bombers 

dropped four bombs and three of 

them exploded. 

Several people had gone under the 

bridge hoping it to be a safe place. 

One of the bombs exploded near 

the bridge and nine people under 

the bridge were killed. 

Uruthrapuram village is situated in the 

Kilinochchi district. The Koolavadi market 

serves the villages of Urudrapuram and 

Sivanagar. 

04.02.1991 is the Independence Day for Sri 

Lanka and it was celebrated in the south of 

the island. On that day Sri Lankan Air Force 

bombers circled the Koolavadi market. 



68


The funerals of those were held the next day. During the funeral more bombs were 

dropped in the area. 

A memorial for those killed was built by the villagers in 2002 at the Koolavadu 

junction. 

Kandaih Sundaralingam of Uruthrapuram says, 

“I lost two children on 04.02.1991 when Sri Lankan Air Force dropped several 

bombs at Koolavadi junction.” 

82. KarapollaMuthgalla massacre 29.04.1992 

Karapolla and Muthugalle villages are 

sityuated in the Polanaruwa districts. 

These villages are on the border of the 

Batticaloa district. The people of this 

village mostly work as labourers, 

keeping cow herds and collecting honey 

from the forests. 

On 29.04.1992, Sri Lankan military and 

Muslim groups entered the villages at 

night and killed the sleeping villagers by cutting them with knives. 97 people were 

killed including women and children. All the villagers displaced from these two 

villages after this incident. 

83. Vattrapalai shelling 18.05.1992 

had diminished. 

Vattrapallai is very famous female 

goddess temple in the Northeast region 

situated along the coast in Mullaitivu. 

Once a year on the full moon day in 

May hundreds of thousands of people 

gather here for “Pongal”, community 

cooking and eating. Since 1990 due to 

SLAFs threats the number of people 

who come to this temple for this day 

18.05.1992 was that annual day for that year when more than 5,000 devotees have 

gathered at the temple. The SLAFs shelled from its camp in Mullativu at 12.45 pm 

at the peak time of the festival, as if they were deliberately trying to destroy the 

festival. Ten people died on the spot, five more died at the hospital, and 60 people 

were injured. 

Yogeswari’s son and husband died on that day. This is her account of the story: 

“It was the day of Pongal. Because this is a special day in the year, people had 

come from all over the place. I had given our ‘kavadi’ for rent. My husband and 

son were waiting to get the Kavadi back. I was not with them. 



69


I heard that the SLA had started shelling from Mullaitivu. Someone came running 

to tell me that my brother Sellakilli, had been injured. I ran to see him. It was 

actually my son and my sister in law’s son who had been injured. We were unable 

to look at them – they were that badly scarred. My husband was then brought to us. 

He died soon after. We all screamed and cried. It has been so hard to bring up the 

kids. I have not given up the ‘kavadi’ business. I have had to grind flour for a 

living. As long as the SLA are here and doing these kinds of things, people will 

always suffer like this.” 

84. Thellipalai temple bombing 30.05.1992 

Tellipalai village is in the Jaffna district 

and Tellipalai boasts of an ancient 

Thurkai-Amman temple. 

The Sri Lankan military shelled and 

bombed areas surrounding the Palay 

military camp in order to displace the 

people and expand the military camp. 

Displaced people from several villages 

adjacent o the Palay military camp such as, Kurumpasiddy,Vasavilan, Taiyiddy, and 

Mayiliddy, had taken refuge in the Thurkai-Amman temple. 

On 30.05.1992, two Sri Lankan Air Force bombers dropped five bombs on the 

temple crowded with refugees. Five people, including two from the same family, 

were killed in this bombing. Most of the temple was damaged. 

This same temple was bombed again in 1993 during festival time when it was 

crowded with devotees. Five civilians died in this second attack a year later. More 

than 5 people were injured. The temple was destroyed a second time in a year. 

85. Mailanthai massacre 09.08.1992 

The villages of Mailanthai and 

Punanai are border villages of the 

Batticaloa district. 

The people in the villages of 

Mailanthai and Punanai were 

frequently rounded up and attacked by 

the military from the Punanai military 

camp. 

On 09.08.1992, the military rounded 

up Mailanthanai and began attacking the villagers with knives, swords and guns. 

More than 50 people were killed. Many more were injured. 

Further details of this massacre are not yet available. 



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86. Kilali massacre 1992, 1993 

serious injuries. 

! 

Knowing full well that this 

sea journey is hazardous, 

hundreds and hundreds of 

people from all walks of life 

and all ages and both sexes 

have undertaken this night 

journey in boats powered 

with outboard motors. 

During the years of 1992 and 

1993, the Sri Lankan Navy 

has brutally massacred Tamil 

civilians crossing the Jaffna 

Lagoon through Kilaly.! A 

very conservative estimate is 

that over a 150 Tamil 

civilians have lost their lives 

here. A further 100 people 

were made permanently 

disabled by the attacks and 

another 150 sustained 

These unarmed civilians 

take the risk of death 

because they have urgent business to transact down South or to contact their 

relatives there or travel abroad or for medical treatments. It is such people who were 

being massacred at Kilaly and not, as the Sri Lankan State claimed, terrorists who 

‘have been killed’. 

On 02.01.1993, at 8 pm, 4 passenger boats developed engine trouble and drifted 

away from the small convoy of boats traversing the lagoon. Navy boats surrounded 

the four drifting boats and then naval personnel had boarded them, opened fire 

indiscriminately, hacked and stabbed the passengers and set one boat on fire. 

On the 11 th , 11 corpses, in a highly decomposed stated, were washed ashore at 

Pooneryn-Nallur and were buried along the shores of the lagoon. 

A letter from P Vinayagamoorthy, Secretary of Red Cross, Kilinochchi dated 

12.01.1993, is as follows: 

“We submit the following details of an incident that took place at the Kilaly – 

Alankerny on 2.01.1993. 

It had been reported that four boats with passengers had been mercilessly attacked 

by the Navy at 8pm on 2.01.1993 in the Poonahari Lagoon. At about 8pm these 

boats were surrounded by Navy Boats and after firing warning shots, the Navy 

personnel had boarded the passenger boats. We were given to understand they 

have, without considerations opened fire on old, sick, children and woman and had 

stabbed the hacked passengers. They also set one boat on fire. 



71


On receipt of information we rushed to the scene with thirty five volunteers in the 

early hours on 03.01.1993 and observed that 19 bodies were floating. We with the 

assistance of volunteers and public retrieved all the dead bodies and transported 

them by SLRC vehicle to the Kilinochchi District Hospital and the relatives were 

informed wherever possible. On 5.01.1993, another 10 bodies were retrieved in a 

highly decomposed state beyond recognition and identification and those bodies 

were buried along the sea shore. On 6.01.93 six more bodies were retrieved in a 

highly decomposed state and those bodies were also buried along the sea shore. 

All the 35 bodes recovered to date were mutilated with gun shot and stab injuries 

and some burnt beyond recognition. Only 18 bodies have been identified and the 

others were buried without identification. 

In addition to the above 5 injured persons were brought to Kilinochchi District 

Hospital. One of them a woman, seriously injured and sent to Vavunia Hospital 

succumbed to her injuries. The balance 4 were rendered first aid and transferred to 

Jaffna Government Hospital on 5.01.1993. 

Two persons had miraculously escaped without any injury and according to their 

statement, the Navy Personnel, after causing the damages as described above, 

hitched several passenger boats to the Navy Boats and were towing them to mid 

sea. Some distance away from the scene of the tragedy, the boat in which these two 

were traveling, had dislodged, they had then jumped off the boat and reached the 

shore by swimming. 

Many of the passengers who traveled on this day are said to be yet missing. The 

above incident has caused a lot of inconvenience to the civilians who were using 

this route to travel to and from Kilaly and over thousand passengers are stuck up at 

Poonahari. They are undergoing a lot of hardship without shelter, food and medical 

facilities.” 

On 29.07.1993, navy personnel who came in five gun boats carried out a large 

scale massacre of civilian passengers. Two boats carrying a full load of passengers 

were attacked, one at 2.30am and the other at 4.00 am. Including the boatman, 

there were altogether 35 people in the boat at the time. These boats were on their 

way from Alankerny to Allipallai. 

Kanapathypillai Peethamparam, 62 years old, was on the boat on the 29.07.1993. 

Her account is as follows, 

“I returned from Wellawatte after seeing a relative of mine who is sick. At about 

4.30 a.m Sri Lankan Navy forces came in five gun boats forwards us from Elephant 

Pass army camp. 

On coming they fired at us. Bullets fell everywhere. To escape from firing I crept 

inside the engine room of the boat. At the same time another boat also was 

experiencing the same fate. After this a huge bomb fell close to our boat and 

exploded with a big noise. Due to explosion four passengers including two ladies 

died on the spot. Another person’s right hand mangled and fell on to me. Owing to 

this the whole of my body was soaked in blood. Another person’s leg was smashed. 



72


Many of them were injured. Some of them jumped into the sea (The boatmen also 

jumped our earlier). The Naval boat which came closer to our boat attacked us, we 

begged them saying that we are innocent and we surrender even though they fired 

at us. The Navy personnel were tired due to the continuous attack and they left the 

place. The boat in which we were, was about to sink at that time we dropped all the 

bicycles which were in the boat into the sea.” 

87. Maaththalan bombing 18.09.1993 

this distance. 

Maaththalan is one of the coastal 

villages in the Mullaithivu district. 

Most of the people depend on 

fishing for their livelihood. The 

beach also doubles up as their 

leisure area. People of this village 

had to travel 4 Kms to 

Puthukkudiyiruppu for purchasing 

their daily needs. Even to market 

their fish catch they had to travel 

From the start of the conflict the Sri Lankan Navy has put restrictions on fishing. It 

also started to attack the fishermen at the sea. Fishermen were forced continue 

fishing for their livelihood. 

On 18.09.1993, people were gathered for the opening of a new public Community 

Hall that will serve the communities needs. There were many displaced people 

among them who had displaced from Jaffna and Kilinochchi. At 4.00 pm a Sri 

Lankan military helicopter flew past and must have noticed the gathering. At 5.30 

pm the Sri Lankan Air Force bombers appeared and dropped more than 10 bombs. 

Three bombs fell on the brand new hall. 

13 civilians died on the spot. More than 40 were injured. 

88. ChavakachcheriSangaththanai bombing 28.09.1993 

Chavakachcheri is in the Jaffna district. The 

area has large coconut and Palmarah estates. 

Sangaththanai village is just 500 metres from 

the Chavakachcheri town centre. 

shelling. 

The Sri Lankan military increased its aerial 

bombing and shelling of civilians areas as part 

of their battle with the LTTE. The civilians have 

become accustomed to building trenches in the 

ground to take protection during bombing and 

The large bunker in the Uthayan wood mill in this village gave protection to many 

villagers. 



73


On 28.09.1993, Sri Lankan Air Force 

bombers started to circle the area. 

More than 35 people took protection in 

the bunker at the Uthayan wood mill. 

The bombers directly targeted the 

bunker. Three bombs were dropped on 

the bunker. 30 people including babies 

died in the bunker. Only five survived 

with injuries. 

A memorial at the Uthayan wood mill commemorates those who lost their lives in 

this bombing. 

89. Kokuvil temple massacre & bombing 29.09.1993 

Kokuvil is in the Jaffna district. 

Katpulaththu-Amman temple is 

located in Kokuvil. The temple is 250 

years old. 

This historic temple was bombed by 

the Indian military in 1988 and by the 

Sri Lankan military in 1993. 

In September 1988, the Indian 

military that drove past the temple opened fire at the devotees and three were killed 

on the spot. Five more devotees were injured. 

On 29.09.1993, Sri Lankan Air Force bombed this same temple and three more 

devotees at the temple were killed. 

90. Kurunagar church bombing 13.11.1993 

Kurunagar is just one Kms from the Jaffna 

town centre along the coast. The Kurunagar 

church was built in 1881. 

On 13.11.1993, people were gathered 

for prayers when Sri Lankan Air 

Force bombers dropped two bombs 

on the church. Ten people were killed 

and more 25 were injured. The 

church was badly damaged. 

This bombing was condemned by the 



74


world leaders. The pillars supporting the main hall were broken to smithereens and 

they are kept even today near the altar. A memorial was also built for those killed in 

the bombing near the entrance to the church. 

91. Chundikulam94 massacre 18.02.1994 

Thoduvai-Vaikal is a fishing 

settlement in the Chundikulam 

village in the Kilinochchi district. 

On 18.02.1994, at 5.15 am the 

fishermen were going into the sea 

for fishing. The Sri Lankan Naval 

Dvora boats that arrived began 

opening fire at the fishermen. 

Some of the fishermen had jumped 

into the sea to save their lives. 

Others had cut the nets off and were attempting speed back to the shore. The firing 

was heard by the villagers at the shore. Worried villagers gathered at the shore for 

the fishermen who had gone to sea. They could sea the fishermen being hit by the 

fire and falling into the sea. 

Ten fishermen died that day in the Sri Lankan Navy attack. Only three bodies were 

recovered on that day and the other seven bodies washed ashore the following day. 

After this the fishermen stopped going to the sea. The families were pushed further 

into poverty as a result. 

92. Navali church massacre 09.07.1995 

On the 9 th July 1995, eight rocket 

bombs were dropped on Navali 

church and its surroundings. The 

church was crammed with people 

who had sought refuge when they 

realized the army was bombing their 

area. 155 bodies of civilians were 

recovered from the church and its 

surroundings and 250 people were 

injured. There is no doubt that the 

Navaly village is in the Jaffna district. St 

Peters church is a famous temple in 

Navaly. Following the military orders to 

the people to take refuge in public places 

thousands of people left their homes to 

take refuge in churches and temples. 

About 2500 people had thus taken refuge 

in St Peters Church.!! 

!!!!!! 



75


SLAFs deliberately dropped a bomb at a place where there was a maximum density 

of people gathered, and the large crowd of people would have been noticeable from 

the air. 

Vaithiyalingam Kamalanathan, lost his wife on that day. The incident as described 

by him is as follows: 

“That morning, from about 4am we were heard bombing sounds from the SLA 

during Operation Leap Forward. People from Chuliipuram had grabbed all their 

belongings and started moving along Navali Road. 

All of us, small, young, and old were helping and feeding these displaced people at 

St Peters church with food and drink. We did this all day. 

Since I did not go to the temple in the morning – I went at 4:30pm with my son 

through the paddy fields. At about 4:35pm we heard a very big bomb blast and saw 

clouds of smoke. We immediately knew something had happened at Navali. 

When I ran back to my house, the road was filled with fallen trees and buildings. In 

my house my wife was bleeding from here [chest]. My daughter was injured in her 

head and hand. Blood was running. 

I ran to the other houses nearby. One of my neighbour’s family was all lying dead. 

My elder son’s daughter was injured. My sister’s husband said that we could do no 

more for my sister. He said to go and look after my family. My wife died at the 

hospital asking me to look after our children.” 

The Parish priest at that time says: 

“It was Sunday morning. People were being displaced here as the Leap Forward 

Operation was taking place. People of this area welcomed them and were supplying 

them with food and drinks. I was at St Andrews church in Manipay when I heard 

that people were gathering in St Peters Church, Navali. So I rushed over here. On 

my way here, I heard the bombers in the air. One of the bombers was lowering and, 

I ran and hid behind a wall. I saw this people being bombed. I ran here after the 

bombing and saw that people were scattered here and there - killed. 9 people were 

killed at this church. 121 people were killed all together. 

The church was damaged. People were screaming and shouting. People who were 

taking shelter in this area were bombed. People are still saddened and worried 

about this. People hope that this situation will change and that peace will prevail in 

this country. Tamils and Sinhalese will remain together in this country as brother 

and sister.” 



76


93. Nagarkovil bombing 22.05.1995 

Among the historic temples in Jaffna 

are the Vallipuram temple and the 

Nagarkovil temple. Nagarkovil 

temple is located 8 Kms from the 

Vallipuram temple. In 1956, through 

the efforts of V Naganathan, the 

Jaffna-Nagarkovil Vidhyalam was 

started by the Sri Lankan 

government. In 1967 this was 

upgraded to Mahavidhyalayam. 

In 1990, people from the village of Mayiliddy were forced to displace from their 

village and around 600 of these families were living in Nagarkovil. As a result, the 

Nagarkovil School of 400 students went to 700 overnight. Following clashes in 

1991, people from Vetrilaikerni, Aliyavalai, and Kaddakadu villages also displaced 

to Nagarkovil. After 1993 the student roll at the school went up to 830. 

On 21.09.1995, the military shelled several areas in Jaffna from its Palaly camp. On 

22.05.1995, Sri Lankan Air Force bombers dropped bombs on the Manalkadu 

church and destroyed it. Three civilians were killed. At 12.45 while the school was 

in session, 8 rockets were dropped on the school and the adjacent village. 

7 students were killed inside their class room. A further 13 students died in the 

hospital. A further 42 students were seriously injured. As a result of the attacks on 

that day 40 civilians including 20 students died. 100 civilians including 42 students 

were injured. 

94. Chemmani mass graves in 1996 

What is the fate of the civilians who disappeared 

during the six month period in the middle of 1996? 

Chemmani area in the Ariyalai village houses the 

welcome arch into Jaffna town four Kms from the 

town. 



77


Following breakdown of the talks between the LTTE and the government of Sri 

Lanka in April 1994, the newly elected President Chandrika Kumaratunge launched 

a war which she called the “war for peace” The military captured the Jaffna town in 

1995 and in 1996 the military captured the entire Jaffna peninsula. 

The Riviresa military operation started in the latter part of 1995. Over a period of 

two days 450,000 people displaced from the western sector of Jaffna and walked 

through Chemmani road, Kopay road to the eastern sectors. The Military then 

captured the Jaffna town. Eventually the military captured most of the Jaffna 

peninsula. Half the displaced people went to live in other districts and the rest lived 

in the military controlled Jaffna peninsula. 

While a “war for peace” was being waged, the list of people arrested and 

disappeared in Jaffna kept growing under the military leadership of Major General 

Janaka Perera. Rape of women by the military was also increasing. During the six 

months, following mid 1996, the number of disappeared reached 700. 600 

complaints were lodged at the Human Rights Commission. An association was 

formed by the families of the disappeared. 

The association has waged demonstrations in several locations demanding to know 

the fate of their family members. As the pressure mounted, President Kumaratunge 

appointed a Commission of military officials to investigate the disappearances. 

In spite of several sittings of this commission there was no outcome worthy of note 

from this commission. Following the disappearance of Krishanthi (see later) and the 

confession by one of the convicted soldiers about mass graves in Chemmani where 

300 to 400 bodies are buried, the convicted soldier was taken to the location to 

identify the mass graves. 

The Chemmani mass graves were dug in front of Judge Ilancheliyan, Prof Neriyella 

from Ruhunu University and several lawyers including, Kesavan, Ilanko, 

Paramaraja, and Pon Poologasingam. Several locations were identified as mass 

grave locations. When the site was dug for the first time 11 skeletons were 

unearthed. They were sent for forensic investigations and the ages were estimated to 

be from 16 to 35. Before the second digging was to begin people were banned from 

going near the area and people noticed movement of military vehicles at night in the 

area. The second digging two weeks later uncovered another 6 bodies. With this the 

task was temporarily halted. To date no further progress has been made on these 

investigations. 

95. Kilinochchi town massacre 19961998 

In 1996, the Sri Lankan military launched 

the military operation they code named 

“Sathjeya-01”. The operation was to move 

south from its Elephant Pass camp into 

Kilinochchi. During this movement it set up 

a military camp in Paranthan. The military 

intelligence wing from this camp would 

infiltrate into the civilian areas. There they 



78


attacked and killed people in their homes, or displaced people who returned to their 

homes to collect some items. 

In August 1996, the military launched “Sathjeya-02” military operation. This was 

followed by “Sathjeya-03” military operation. With this the military entered 

Kilinochchi town. Here they created a militarized zone occupying people’s homes 

and their farmlands. 

While camped here the military carried out numerous attacks on civilians in the 

surrounding areas. 184 civilians disappeared during this time. Most of them were 

killed. Later when people moved back to their homes, skeletons were recovered 

from toilet pits and wells. Based on information collected from many sources, 184 

civilians were killed. 72 skeletons of those killed were recovered in Kilinochchi and 

its surroundings. 12 skeletons were identified by relatives based on the clothes and 

other items they were wearing when they were killed. 

The families of those killed are today living in extreme poverty in the villages of 

Akkarayan, Mallavi, Jeyapuram and Puthukkidiyiruppu. 

96. Kumarapuram massacre 11.02.1996 

Kumarapuram village is situated in the 

Assistant Government Agent Division 

of Mutur in the Trincomalee district. It 

is located between the villages of 

Kiliveddi and Parathipuram. The 

village is bounded in east by the 

Allaikulam water reservoir and in the 

west by a sport ground and a milk 

collection centre. A military camp is 

just 2 Kms from its north border. 

People from all the different ethnic communities lived here without any 

disharmony. After the 1995 military activities people in the village lived in fear. 

The massacre on 11.02.1996 happened during one of these military activities. 

On 11.02.1996 at 4.00 pm people heard firing noises. The frightened people ran into 

the large forest area near the Allaikulam and hid there. Some people stayed at home. 

In the home of Alagutharai, eight members of the family stayed at home. All eight 

of them were shot dead in their home by the military. 

In the inquiry on this massacre the village headman in his evidence said 

Rasenthiram Karunaharan was shot dead in front of him as the two were talking. 

Another man Nagarasa lost his eyesight as a result of the shooting. 

Arumaithurai Thanalaxmi, a 16 year old girl was taking her eight year old brother 

on her bicycle. When they heard the shooting she took her brother and hid in a 

nearby shop. The military dragged her out and took her to the milk collection centre 

and there she was gang raped by the military. One Sri Lankan soldier, Corporal 

Kumara, confessed to shooting her dead at the inquiry. When asked why he shot her 



79


he stated that she was badly injured with several bite marks made by the military 

men who gang raped her and that she was in such a bad state that he shot her. 

26 people were killed in this massacre. 22 were seriously injured. Many of the 

injured who died without medical care were recorded as deaths by natural causes. 

97. Nachchikuda strafing 16.03.1996 

The Poonagari area of Kilinochchi 

district is a historically important area. 

This was a centre of ancient kingdoms 

and commerce. A fishing village in 

Poonagari is Nachchikuda. 

On 16.03.1996, early morning MI-24 

helicopters belonging to the Sri 

Lankan military began strafing the 

Nachchikuda village settlement. 

People sleeping at home and fishermen at sea were hit by the shells. 16 people were 

killed. Hundreds of fishermen’s huts were burnt out. Following this attack the 

village displaced from Nachchikuda. 

98. Thambirai market bombing 17.05.1996 

Poonagari is situated in the Kilinochchi 

district 20 Kms from Kilinochchi town. 

This is a historic region. Thambirai is a 

small village in the Poonagari area. 

On 17.05.1996, at 10.00 am, Kfir 

bombers belonging to the Sri Lankan 

Air Force dropped bombs in the market 

area. People hearing the Kfirs had taken 

refuge under Palmarah estate nearby. 

Two bombs fell in the area. Five civilians were killed on the spot and two more died 

in the hospital. Seven civilians were badly injured. 

Francis Reetamma says, 

“I live in Thambirai. My husband who went to the market on that day was killed 

when Sri Lankan Air Force bombers dropped bombs on 17.05.1996 and shell pieces 

went into his chest and stomach. About 5 people died in this bombing. 8 or 9 people 

were injured.” 



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99. Mallavi bombing 24.07.1996 

Mallavi is situated in the 

Mullaithivu district 15 Kms from 

the Mankulam junction. In 1996 a 

large number of people from 

Jaffna and Kilinochchi were 

displaced to Mallavi and were 

living around the Mallavi 

junction area. 

On 24.07.1996, Sri Lankan Air 

Force Kfir dropped bombs in this area and 9 civilians were killed and 15 more 

were injured. 

100. Pannankandy massacre 05.07.1997 

Pannankandy is a village of 

about 300 families. It is 

situated near the town of 

Kilinochchi. The main 

economic activity in the village 

is agriculture. 

The villagers had displaced 

from their homes due to Sri 

Lankan military shelling as it 

conducted an operation from 

their Elephant Pass military camp. Most of the displaced from Pannankandy 

were living in the Vaddakachchi village. They were very poor and due to 

poverty they return to their own land in Pannankandy to collect the produce 

from their land. The military that has setup a camp near Pannankandy would 

capture the poor villagers and kill them. Hundreds of people died in this fashion 

in the Kilinochchi district during this time. This is recorded in another section 

titled, “Kilinochchi town massacres”. The following is the story of what 

happened to the Pannankandy villagers. 

The village headman, Sithamparapillai Rajendram, recited the following as he 

was told by Karuppaih Nanthakumar aged 23, 

“On 5 th July 1997, Nanthakumar and Sukumar went on bicycles to their home in 

Pannangkandy at 3 rd Vaikal which was a ‘no man’ region and from which they 

were displaced at that time. They went to check their homes and also collect 

coconuts and other produce from their land. 

The SLA caught both of them. The army tied Nanthakumar to a post and took 

Sukumar to the village well. Sukumar’s shirt was removed and his hands were 

tied to the back with his shirt. He was then forced to bend over the short barrier 

wall of the well so that the front half of his body was hanging into the well and 

the back half was outside. His body was then cut and then pushed into the well. 



81


Stones were thrown into the well to stop the body floating up. Nanthakumar, 

who was watching this, managed to untie himself and ran away. 

When Nanthakumar arrived at Tharmapuram where we met him, he told 

everyone the story. No one went to check it at that time out of fear. On the 

same day the four other men went missing. No one knew about their fate at that 

time. 

In March 2000 following the Sri Lankan army withdrawal from our village we 

went back to Pannangkandy to resettle. First only about 10 families went. We 

cleaned the well mentioned above because we needed to use it for drinking 

water and also because we knew about what has happened to Sukumar. When 

we started cleaning the well 6 bodies were recovered. Everyone whose family 

member had gone missing came to check whether their relative’s body is among 

them. Relatives were able to identify the clothing with which the hands of the 

skeletons were tied once the clothing was washed.” 

Mrs Pannichelvam Seethalaxmi’s husband skeleton was one of those found in 

the well. 

“On 5 th July 1997, there was a military operation 

named ‘Sath Jaya’ carried out by the SLA. Our 

village was bombed and shelled. We left our place 

and lived in Union Tank, Akarayan, Skanthapuram as 

refugees. There were no employment facilities there. 

We were very poor. 

One day my husband together with Kanthasamy 

Muthulingam and Perumar Sugumaran went to 

Pannakandi on 5 th July 1997 at 7:30pm to get some things and pluck some 

coconut fruit. They did not return back that day. I was surprised. I went and met 

another family member and the Rural Development Society president and also 

informed the International Red Cross Society in Mallavi. But I did not get any 

information from 1997 to 2000. 

One day, a Father came to my house and told me that he had some news about 

some skeletons that were taken by somebody in the lavatory pit at Pannankandi. 

Immediately I ran there with the help of the Tamil Eelam Police. I saw the 

skeleton. I proved that the skeleton was that of my husband.” 

The sixth body belonged to a young boy wearing blue school shorts. His 

identity has not been settled yet. Later we heard that he could be from 

Udaiyarkaddu, Kaddaikadu. No one came inquiring about this boy. The remains 

from the well are with the Tamil Eelam police. 

Note: Appathurai Selvakumar (35) also from Pannangkandy disappeared and 

his fate is unknown. His family lives in Pannangkandy 



82


101. Kaithady Krishanthi massacre 07.09.1996 

Kaithady is situated in the Jaffna 

district. Kaithady village is located 7 

Kms from the Jaffna town. Krishanthi’s 

home was located just 200 metres from 

the Kaithady junction. 

Krishanthi’s parents Kumarasamy and 

Rasamma had three children, Prasanthi, 

Krishanthi and Pranavan. The family worked hard to advancing the children’s 

education. Krishanthi’s mother Rasamma was working as the deputy principal 

of Kaithady Kumarasamy Vidhyalayam. Krishthani’s father died in 1984, and 

thus the mother and the three children were living in the home. The eldest 

daughter Prasanthi, after finishing her AL examination went to Colombo to 

advance her education as there were no opportunities for her in Jaffna. From 

there she had the opportunity to go overseas. 

Krishanthi excelled in her OL examination and was studying for her AL 

examination at the Chundukuli Girls' School. Krishanthi’s brother Pranavan 

was studying at St Johns College. 

In September 1996, Krishanthi’s the AL examinations were taking place. 

Krishanthi had already sat one paper. On 07.09.1996, Krishanthi went to a 

funeral of her close friend Jananthini Kananathan and was returning home at 

1.30 pm. The military at the checkpoint in the Chemmani open space near the 

Welcome Arch into Jaffna Town stopped Krishanthi and was questioning her. 

She was kept there for 45 minutes. A relative, Kananathan, who saw this had 

gone to Krishanthi’s home and warned Krishanthi’s mother. At 2.30 pm, 

Krishanthi mother, accompanied by neighbor, Kirubamoorthy went to the 

checkpoint. Krishanthi’s brother Pranavan also joined them. 

The three arrived at the checkpoint, Krishanthi was not there. When they 

inquired at the checkpoint they were told that no one was arrested by them. The 

three then went to her school and to her friend’s home looking for Krishanthi. 

They were told that Krishanthi had been there and had left. The three then went 

again to inquire at the checkpoint and all three went missing. 

During the middle of 1996 Jaffna was brought under the Sri Lankan military 

control and they imposed curfew from 6.00pm to 6.00am. As a result, even 

though friends and relatives were concerned that the four people did not return 

home that night. They were unable to do anything about it. 

The next day, 09.09.1996, relatives of Krishanthi’s family, Arumuganathan and 

Kodeeswaran, and Kirubamoorthy’s wife Puveneswari went to the same 

checkpoint in search of their relatives. They were told that no one was arrested 

at that checkpoint. The relatives then lodged complaints at the Jaffna branch of 

the Human Rights Commission and at the Jaffna Police Station. The relatives 

went once again to the checkpoint task. The relatives were asked to come in the 

evening. Fearing that the same fate as their relatives will befall them they did 



83


not go there in the evening. The relatives persisted with their complaints to the 

Human Rights Commission and the Police. 

Due to the efforts of the relatives 45 days after the four people went missing, 

the relatives were called by the military chiefs of the 512 Brigadiers Divisions 

for an inquiry. Mrs. Arumuganathan, Puvaneswari and Kodeeswaran went to 

the inquiry. The six soldiers who were supposedly involved in the 

disappearance were called and investigated. Then it was revealed that none of 

the four missing people are alive. 

The soldiers agreed to show the location of the incident and the graves where 

the bodies lay buried. The bodies were buried under a bridge in 

Nayanmarkaddu road, 100 metres from the checkpoint where the four people 

went missing. Postmortem revealed that Krishnathi was raped before she was 

murdered. 

The two families took a court case about the deaths of their relatives. Following 

inquiries six soldiers were arrested and all six confessed to the murders. One of 

the six who confessed, Lance Corporal Somaratna Rajapakse, in addition to 

giving evidence of the murders of Krishanthi and the other three, also 

announced in the courts that he can show mass graves near Chemmani where 

300 to 400 bodies were buried on orders from their superiors. This 

announcement revealed that many of those who disappeared in Jaffna are buried 

in these mass graves. 

Three of the accused were given death sentence and the other three were given 

20 years imprisonment. 

102. Vavunikulam massacre 26091996, 15081997 

Vavunikulam village is located in the 

Mullaithivu district. The village takes 

the name of the large water reservoir in 

the village. 

Displaced people from other districts 

like Jaffna and Kilinochchi were living 

there in temporary shelters 

experiencing great hardship. On 

26.09.1996, Sri Lankan Air Force bombed this village killing four civilians and 

wounding 12. 

In 1997, the Sri Lankan military was on a military operation from their 

Omanthai camp, codenamed “Jeyasikkuru”, to take over the A9 route. The 

bombing and shelling were hitting the civilians. Civilians had taken refuge in 

schools, churches and temples. 

On 15.08.1997 at 9.00am, the Vavunikulam villagers took refuge in a church in 

their village as the military went on an onslaught. Two bombs were dropped on 

this church by Sri Lankan Air Force Kfirs. 



84


9 people were killed. 16 were seriously injured. One died in the hospital later. 

The Kfirs bombed the same place again at 1.00am. Eight people were injured. 

One of them died in the hospital later. 

In total 15 civilians were killed on that day and more than 20 were injured. 

Ganeshamoorthy’s account of the massacre is as follows, 

“Around Friday 10 am in the morning, we heard a booming sound behind us. 

When we turned around we saw that there were two Kfirs in the air. Initially I 

thought there were crows flying behind the Kfir, however a second later I 

realized they were actually bombs. I fell into a stream, by which time a bomb 

fell. People started screaming. As I ran towards the sound, I saw flesh scattered 

everywhere. It looked like a like a meat shop. 

The bomb fell on a small Refugee Camp at Vavunikulam Church. We informed 

ICRC and they came and took the injured to Mallavi hospital. In the evening 

they bombed Puthuvilamkulam. ICRC returned to take the injured. 5 or 6 

people died. 

All the bodies were taken on a tractor belonging to Sundarlingam and burnt. 

14 people died and 23 people were injured. This bomb had dropped 200 meters 

from my house. Small people, old people, dogs all died. These people had been 

displaced and were already living in hardship when these bombs were 

dropped.” 

This was a planned attack. There were so many places that could have been hit 

– but they targeted the Refugee camps. This is the worst incident that has 

happened at Vavunikulam, Mullaitivu District. 

103. Konavil bombing 27.09.1996 

Konavil is situated in the 

Kilinochchi district. People 

of this village have 

displaced several times 

during the war. 


Kfir bombers dropped 

several bombs on the 

village. Three bombs fell on 

the junction where people 

had gathered. Three civilians died on the spot. Two more died later in the 

Akkarayan hospital. Many were injured. 

Nagalingam Pakianathan say, 

“My uncle was killed on 27.09.1996 in the Sri Lankan bombing.” 



85


S Vimaleswari says, 

“My father was killed as he was returning from the market on 27.09.1996 by 

Sri Lankan bombing. My grandfather who was seriously injured in the bombing 

also died”. 

Pakianathan Vasanthakumari says, 

“My father and a cousin was killed on 27.0.1996 in the Sri Lankan bombing” 

104. Mullivaikal bombing 13.05.1997 

Mullivaikal village is located in the 

Karaithurai Assistant Government 

Agent Division in the Mullaithivu 

district. The main economic 

activities of the village is farming 

and fishing. In the year of 1997 

several displaced fishing families 

from Jaffna settled along the coastal 

belt of this village. 

On 13.05.1997 morning, Kfir bombers of the Sri Lankan Air Force bombed this 

village. Seven fishermen fishing from the shores were killed. Three road 

workers repairing the roads were also killed in the bombing. 

105. Mankulam shelling 08.06.1997 

Mankulam is situated in the 

Mullaithivu district along the A-9 

highway. In 1997, large number of 

people displaced from Jaffna, 

Kilinochchi and Nedunkerni were 

living in Mankulam. 

On 08.06.1997, the military began 

shelling the Mankulam junction 

area in the early afternoon for 25 

minutes. Seven displaced civilians were killed in this shelling. Many more were 

injured. 

106. Thampalakamam98 massacre 01.02.1998 

Thampalagamam is situated 12 Kms 

from the Trincomalee town. A Sri 

Lankan military camp is located in the 

village of Parathipuram in the 

Thampalakamam district. 

On 01.02.1998, in the early morning, 

the military shot and killed 8 civilians 



86


from this village after ordering them to stand around their camp. Four of those 

killed were school children. In the mouth of one of those killed, Arumukam 

Segaran, the military has cut and stuck his penis. 

107. Old Vaddakachchi bombing 26.03.1998 

Old Vaddakachchi is an ancient 

village in the Kilinochchi district. 

The largest water reservoir in the 

region, the Iranaimadhu water 

reservoir, is in this village. The rice 

fields in this village are able to 

produce twice a year using the water 

from this reservoir. Old 

Vaddakachchi is presently called 

Periyakulam. Due its rich fields with abundance of water the people are 

prosperous. 

In 1996, the Sri Lankan military began its “Sathjeya” operation to capture 

Kilinochchi. As the military advanced with shelling and bombing it destroyed 

people’s property and several civilians were killed. 

On 26.03.1998, at 8.00 am Sri Lankan Air Force Kfir jets dropped a bomb in 

the Velikandan area and five bombs fell near the house of Arunasalam 

Velayutham. Two people working in front of Velayutham’s house, 

Velayutham’s daughter, who was inside the house and two more people 

working in the yard, and one person in the house in front were killed. In total 6 

people were killed and five were wounded. Velayutham’s home and farm 

equipment were all destroyed in this bombing. 

Arunasalam Vethanayagam says, 

“My daughter Mankayatkarasi was killed in the Sri Lankan bombing on 

26.03.1998. My home was completely destroyed.” 

Velayutham Paramswari says, 

“My son was killed on 26.03.1998 by the Sri Lankan military bombing” 

Selvaratnam Jeyaluxmi says, “My sister was killed on 26.03.1998 by the Sri 

Lankan military bombing” 

108. Suthanthirapuram massacre 10.06.1998 

On the day of the incident, 

Suthanthirapuram, which is along the 

coastline in the Mullaitivu district, 

came under SLAFs air attack and 

shelling attack from 9.15 am to 10.30 

am. Because the attack was 

continuous, people were unable to find 

safe areas, 25 people were killed and 



87


more than 50 were injured. Several hundreds of thousands rupees worth 

properties were damaged. Hundreds of coconut trees on which people 

depended for livelihood and 10 houses were completely destroyed. Hundreds of 

houses were partially destroyed. 

Ganashen Kasimalar’s account of the event is as follows: 

“Around 9:30am whilst we were home, air bombing started. Our house was 

bombed too. We left our home and started running, but we did not know where 

to run to - everything was being bombed. We just ran in any direction. We got 

separated from our family in all the frenzy. I did not know where my mum, 

brother, sister…. anyone was. There was another plane flying in the air. We did 

not know what to do. We just kept going from one place to another in fear of 

our lives. We hid behind trees and buildings. We could not go back home – 

there was so much shelling. 

Most of the people here were all displaced. We moved very closely with a lot of 

the people. Good friends, neighbors and relations were killed. This was 

definitely a planned attack on people who were already displaced and living in 

hardship. 

We could not return home for 15 days. When we did come back, every thing was 

destroyed. All the coconut trees, gardens and buildings were destroyed. Our 

house was in an unlivable state.” 

109. Visuvamadhu shelling 25.11.1998 

Visvamadhu village is situated 

in the Puthikkidiyiruppu 


division in Mullaithivu district. 

Rice growing and coconut 

estates are the most common 

economic activity of the village. 

The Visvamadu tank irrigates 

the fields. 

On 25.11.1998, afternoon children were returning home from school. The Sri 

Lankan military began shelling from their Elephant camp towards Visvamadhu. 

One shell hit a child eating at his home and he was killed instantly. Another 

shell hit a child on the road and was killed instantly. Two more civilians were 

killed in this shelling and 10 civilians were injured. 



88


110. Chundikulam98 bombing 02.12.1998 

Chundikulam is coastal village 

located in the Kilinochchi 

district. One of its special 

features is the many bird 

sanctuaries. Fishing is the 

main livelihood of the people. 

Sri Lankan Navy has 

continued to attack the coastal 

villages of the Northeast over 

a period of time. In a similar 

manner, the Chundikulam village also came under the Sri Lankan Navy attack. 

In 1995, following Sri Lankan military operations, coastal people in the eastern 

Jaffna region of Maruthankerni from the villages of Thalayadi, Aliyavalai and 

Uduththurai displaced to Chundikulam. The displaced people put up small huts 

and continued with their fishing activity in this area in order to survive. 

On 02.12.1998, Kfir bombers dropped 6 bombs in the Nallathanithoduvai 

refugee settlement. Seven people including children were killed on the spot. 

111. Manthuvil bombing 15.09.1999 

Manthuvil village is situated in the 

Mullaithivu district. Manthuvil junction is 

the commercial centre for the village. 

There are several shops, a market, a 

temple, a church and other public buildings 

in this location. 

On 15.09.1999, the junction was buzzing 

with people engaged in their daily 

activities. At 10.25 am, Sri Lankan Air Force Kfir bombers dropped two bombs 

at this junction. 

12 civilians died on the spot. 

Injured people were taken to the 

Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital. 10 of 

the injured died the same day at the 

hospital. A further 40 people were 

seriously injured. Buildings, 

productive trees and livestock 

worth hundreds of thousands of 

rupees were destroyed by the bombing. 



89


112. Palinagar bombing and shelling 03.09.1999 

Suthanthirapuram village is 

situated in the Mullaithivu district. 

Although it was sparsely populated 

in the early days the population 

shot up in 1996 as refugees came 

in. 


military stationed in Elephant Pass 

and Ampahamam camps carried out bombing and shelling into the civilian’s 

areas in Palinagar from 9.15am till 11.30am. Since the people were taken 

unawares, they could not seek safer places. 

25 people died and 50 people were injured. Hundreds of thousands of rupees 

worth property was damaged. 

Ravichandran’s account is as follows: 

“Around 11 o clock a Kfir was seen in the air. We were at school at the time. 

As we left and were walking, the Kfir dropped the first bomb. SK, a boy working 

with my brother, was injured and taken to hospital where he died. 

When the second bomb was dropped, I was hiding in an out door bathing tub. 

Pratheep was also hiding there with me. He was injured in the stomach. He was 

taken to the hospital by tractor. He died there. 7 people were injured and 4 

died. 

This happened between 11 and 11:30am. As this was peak time, people were at 

the markets and at school. After the first bomb hit, parents and others rushed to 

the school to make sure that the children were ok. Then the second bomb was 

dropped. 2 school children died. The SLA hit this place twice to ensure that 

people would definitely be killed. This had to have been a planned attack.” 

113. Madhu church massacre 20.11.1999 

On 

November 1999, the SLAFs were 

advancing through the forest towards the 

church and continually firing their 

weapons. As a result, people in the 

villages, such as Palamputti, also 

displaced to the surroundings of Madhu 

Madhu church, Mannar, is a St. Mary’s Catholic 

Church and is popular among all ethnic 

communities in the area. During the 1990s 

following the SLAFs attacks several people from 

Jaffna, Mannar and Vavuniya were displaced to 

the church’s surroundings, as it was considered a 

safe refuge. 

20 th 



90


church. When the SLAFs arrived they forced all the civilians to go to the 

church. At 9.45 pm the SLAFs started shelling. Two of the shells fell on the 

banyan tree in front of the church. The third shell fell on the church. 31 people 

including children died. Nine more people died in the hospital. More than 60 

were injured. 

Chandrasekumaran Amarasingam was in the Madhu Church when the shelling 

started. His account of the incident is as follows, 

“I had been living in Thathinapuram Palamputti for a long time. On that day, 

the SLA told us to go to Madhu Church and they will look after us there. This 

message was conveyed to us through UNHCR. So we all went to the Temple. 

Once there we were told to go in and then go out again a few times. There were 

so many people at the temple. Finally the SLA made us all go into the Temple 

and then closed us in. 

The SLA came down Pandivirichan Road in armoured vehicles and tanks. On 

that road there was a vehicle that belonged to a poor man who had brought 

people from Karadian Aru to Madhu Temple. The SLA destroyed the vehicle 

completely. 

Once they arrived, they surrounded the Church. They killed and hit a few 

people. Inside they hit people. Around 9:45, we were listening to BBC on the 

radio; the first shell fell on the place where the sisters were sleeping. The other 

fell in front of the temple on the banyan tree. The next one fell on my temple. 

The fourth shell fell on my head. The roof frame fell down and instantly killed 

about twenty one people all around me and then there was silence. We all saw 

this shell come from the Divisional Secretariat. 

We did not know what to do. Around 1.00 pm, I was taken in an SLA vehicle to 

the hospital. I regained consciousness after 25 days. 

My mother, and elder sister, uncles, cousins all died that day. The GS helped us 

to find out what happened to everyone. There were people from Vavuniya and 

some from Murungan who died. The rest were all from this area and were all 

from our family. 

114. Bindunuwewa massacre 

Bindunuwewa Rehabilitation Centre was one of three centers run with 

substantial overseas funding to rehabilitate LTTE suspects and surrenders. The 

government of Sri Lanka ran these centers. It was shown off as a model for the 

rehabilitation of former LTTE members thus accumulating a lot of merit points 

for the government. 

On Oct 25 th in 2000 a mob of Sinhalese stormed the camp and massacred the 

inmates while 60 police officers stationed that night to protect the inmates stood 

by. 28 inmates died and another 14 were seriously injured. There were nine 

survivors. Two inquiries, one by the Sri Lankan Human rights Commission 

(SLHRC) and another Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCI) followed. A 



91


criminal proceeding also was initiated. In June 2005 the court proceedings were 

completed. No one was convicted for any offence. 

The massacre as told by the survivors to Sri Lanka Human Rights 

Commissions (SLHRC) 

On October 24, the detainees were raising some complaints they had with the 

Officer in Charge. Their complaints were that letters to and phone calls for 

them were not being passed onto them; and they were being detained for more 

than a year rather than the three-nine month period. There were some arguments 

and seeing that the detainees were agitated a policeman fired in the air. The 

situation calmed down and the detainees went to bed. 

Next morning when the detainees woke up they saw large crowds and a large 

number of policemen outside. The crowd started to attack the detainees and set 

fire to their residences. 28 Tamil detainees died and 14 were injured at the end 

of the carnage. Nineteen victims were identified and nine victims were not 

identified because their bodies were burned beyond recognition. 

Interim Report by the SLHRC on November 1 st 2000 

This report by the SLHRC through its name suggests that there will be another 

report following it but there was no further report from SLHRC on this matter. 

Major points raised in this report are: 

1. When the detainees who were being attacked tried to run for safety one 

of them was shot down by police officers. His body had three bullet 

wounds. One of the survivors lost two fingers as a result of the 

shooting by the police officers. 

2. The 60 odd police officers at the scene failed to take any action to stop 

the carnage. Yet the SLHCR did not lay any criminal responsibility on 

the police officers rather they were found guilty for the minor offence 

of dereliction of duty. 

3. There was substantial organizing and poster campaign against the 

inmates between the time the detainees protested and the time they 

were attacked by the mobs. 

Report by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCI) 

The report by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed in March 2001 

handed its report to the President in early 2002. It was never made public. In 

any case it was not mandated to inquire and recommend any prosecution. Other 

papers written on the topic however, have published parts of the findings in this 

report. 

The Commission found clear evidence that a significant degree of organizing 

took place in the twelve to fourteen hours between the initial protest in the 

camp and its violent destruction. 

The crowd outside initiated the violence as stones were thrown at the inmates. 

The inmates reacted to the provocations by exploding a gas cylinder within the 

camp. While this initially succeeded in frightening the crowd, its ultimate effect 



92


seems to have been to further inflame things, as the crowd soon thereafter 

stormed the camp as the police looked on. 

That there was an utter failure on the part of the police stationed around the 

camp is beyond dispute. The Commission report strongly criticized the two 

most senior police officers in the area – ASP Dayaratne and HQI Seneviratne 

for a series of failures. Even at the last moment, the inmates could have been 

evacuated from the camp. 

The prosecution 

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) carried out its own inquiry and 

indicted 41 suspects including 10 police officers. There were flaws in the 

prosecution at many levels. Some of which are: 

1. Although both inquiries have strongly criticized that there were 

substantial prior organizations before the mob stormed the camp there 

was no attempt to investigate the “organized nature of the massacre”. 

2. There was no attempt to lay charges for the criminal conduct of the police 

in allowing the massacre to continue while they stood by. Nor was the 

police shooting of the fleeing inmates investigated. 

3. There was a systematic destruction of evidence. A bullet from the body of 

the detainee who was killed by police shooting was removed and was not 

available as evidence. 

4. Though two higher-ranking officers were clearly identified in the 

inquiries they were never charged of any crime. All the police officers 

who were charged are middle and low ranking officers. 

5. The charges that were brought on the suspects were for murder and 

attempted murder. The prosecution did not lay any lesser charges for 

which there would have been a greater possibility of conviction. 

Despite such blatant criminality the Sri Lankan justice system has allowed all 

the culprits to go free. This is also not the only time this has happened. Indeed, 

this failure of the Sri Lankan justice system to punish security persons for 

crimes against Tamil civilians has a very long history. 

115. Mirusuvil massacre 19.12.2000 

Mirusulvil village is a settlement 

created to encourage women into 

employment. This village is near 

the Muhamalai area in Jaffna 

peninsula. 

In the year 2000, as a result of 

military clashes throughout the 

Thenmaradchy area of Jaffna many 

people had displaced to the 

Vadamaradchi area. The people of Mirusuvil village had also displaced to 

Karaveddy in Vadamaradchi and were staying in the Navalar hall. 



93


On 19.12.2000 9 people from Mirusuvil went to their village to collect essential 

items they needed for living. All 9 were arrested while they were collecting the 

things from their homes. The arrested people were blind folded and attacked by 

the military. One of those arrested managed to escape and return to Karaveddy 

to tell the fate of the others. 

Based on the information given by Ponnaiah Maheswaran, who managed to 

escape, and the soldier who was on duty at that time, Lance Corporal 

Ratnayake, in the presence of the Police Inspector, Upali Gunawardhana, 

Deputy Police Inspector, Nimal Srinath, district judge, Annalingam 

Premshankar, and Point Pedro District Medical Officer, Kathiravetpillai, a mass 

grave was dug up on 25.12.2000. The eight bodies were buried only 2 feet 

below the ground. 

The Tamil daily Veerakesari published from Colombo in a report quoted a 

hospital report on the inquest, “A body of a 21 year old man was recovered 

from the mass grave and was identified by Ponnaih Maheswaran and Lance 

Corporal Ratnayake. This body was wrapped in a red saree. Next the body of a 

male child was recovered. His skin was peeled and his body was pink. Throats 

of the bodies were cut with sharp knives and the arms and legs were chopped 

off.” 



94


Victims Name List 



1956 - 2001 

Part I 

NESOHR 


Kilinochchi 

Sri Lanka 



95


1. Tamil research conference massacre 10.01.1974 

Name Occupation Age 

1. Velupllai Kesavarajan Student 15 

2. Paramsoothy Saravanapavan - 26 

3. Vaithianathan Yoganathan - 32 

4. John Pidalis Sickmaringham Teacher 52 

5. Pulendran Arulappu Worker 53 

6. Rasathurai Sivanantham Student 21 

7. Rajan Thevaratnam - 26 

8. Sinnathurai Ponnuthurai Ayurvedic Doctor! 56 

9. Sinnaththamby Nandakumar Student 14 

2. Thirunelveli massacre 24, 25.07.1983 

No Full Name Occupation Age 

01 Nagalingam Sivalingam Super Visor 35 

02 Sinnaiya Sathananthan Watch Ripper 40 

03 Kanthaiya Sanmukanathan 60 

04 Seevaratnam Thaventhiran Student 19 

05 Kanakaratnam Kirusnanantham Business 33 

06 Sanmukanathan Saththiyathevan Salesman 18 

07 Palachchanthiran Ajith Child 06 

08 Thankarasa Kajendhiran Student 09 

09 Selvakanthini Child 11 

10 Pilip Alociyas Yokarasa Santhirasekaram Business 34 

11 Ponnaiya Bararayasingam Teacher 

12 Ramasami Nagarasa Coolly 24 

13 Supramaniyam Barameswaran Manager 39 

14 Sinnaththampi Saravanamuththu Teacher 39 

3. Chunnakam Police station massacre 08.01.1984 


1. Sellar Sivalingham Student 22 

2. Vaithilingham Nigethanan Student 21 

3. Kandiah Palan Farmer 25 

4. Appaiah Nagarasa Sheller 38 

5. Aaseervatham Vijit vimalarasa Electrict Staff 20 

4. Chunnakam market massacre 28.03.1984 


01 Kanthaiya Balasupramaniyam Watchman 52 

02 Nagalinkam Sivasupramaniyam Super Visor 54 

03 Thampimuththu Suntharalingam Coolly 38 

04 Vallipuram Suntharalingam Business 68 

05 Vairavi Thiyakarasa Business 42 

06 Basubathi Thavamani House 43 

07 Nadarasa Yokarasa Business 27 

5. Othiyamalai massacre 01.12.1984 


01 Nakamani Sinnaiya 50 

02 Nakaratnam Ketheeswaran 23 

03 Nalaiya Navaratnam 17 

04 Kanthaiya Kanakaiya 

05 Kanthaiya Ponnampalam 48 



96


06 Kanthaiya Sivasithamparam 35 

07 Kirusnapillai Rasalingam 29 

08 Karuppaiya Thankarasa Labor 18 

09 Kanapathippillai Sinnaiya 35 

10 Kanapathippilai Sivapatham 28 

11 Thanmotharampillai 51 

12 Thamotharampillai Sathasivam 46 

13 Thampiyaija Kasippillai 45 

14 Thampiyaija Veluppillai 38 

15 Thampiyaija Supramaniyam 26 

16 Thampiyaija Sivanganam 23 

17 Alakaiya Jekanathan 17 

18 Kovinthar Kanavathippillai 55 

19 Ponnampalam Thevarasa 25 

20 Veluppillai Sithambarampillai 36 

21 Suppaiya Kenkatharan 26 

22 Sinnaya Rasenthiram 21 

23 Sithamparampillai Rasaiya 27 

24 Sankarappillai Saparatnam 40 

25 Sankarappillai Sanmukasuntharam 25 

26 Sanmukarasa Ravichchanthiran 16 

27 Veerakaththi Thillainadarasa 25 

6. Kumulamunai massacre 02.12.1984 


01 Ponnampalam Namasivayam 51 

02 Ponnampalam Ananthan 53 

03 Ponnampalam Kenkatharan 45 

04 Ponnampalam Ponrasa 43 

05 Ponnampalam Santhiralinkam 49 

06 Ponnampalam Vivekanantham 47 

07 Mokanathash 32 

7. Blood soaked Mannar 04.12.1984 


01 Anthoni Kurusuthasan Famer 23 

02 Alakaiya Kalimuththu Famer 31 

03 Muththuchchami Supramaniyam Mechanic 58 

04 Mansan Sivanappan Coolly 34 

05 Murukesu Navaratnam Famer 54 

06 Murukesu Sellamma House wife 60 

07 Manaval Alexs Famer 52 

08 Maiyilvakanam Jeyakkumar Famer 32 

09 Anthoni Sebamalai Clark 48 

10 Kentimariyathas Miyes Famer 57 

11 Anthoni Yokanatha Student 18 

12 Anthoni Yokanathanmiral Student 18 

13 Appuththurai Veerasingam Mechanic 40 

14 Susaiyappu Inmanuvellembet Famer 24 

15 Imanuvel Susaiyappulembet Coolly 24 

16 Ramaiya Kanthasami Coolly 50 

17 Ramalingam Rakunathan Audit 40 

18 Ramalingam Laxmanan Coolly 50 

19 Mukamad Kaniva Sullththan Coolly 36 

20 Kuppusami Sellaththurai Audit 55 

21 Arulmalar Johnpappisd House wife 28 

22 K.T.Rajaradnam Doctor 67 

23 Karuppaiya Achchuthan Engineer 34 

24 Karuppaiya Perumal Coolly 60 

25 Pilip Pilenthiran Famer 56 



97


26 Alpiratpol Noyalimmanu Famer 45 

27 Alpons Susainathankuru Manager 34 

28 Andiarumukam Sunthararaj Famer 45 

29 Yakkovu Manuval (Alexs) Famer 50 

30 Pethuru Ariyaratnam Postman 42 

31 Alakan Kalemuththu Coolly 65 

32 Savariyan Santhiyekuparuna Famer 32 

33 Savariyan Santhiyekuparinanthu Famer 33 

34 Vallipuram Thiyakarasa Sub Postmaster 40 

35 Richchartkulas Thekkilayark 48 

36 Milasakipu Appulmajithu Famer 43 

37 Sinnaththampi Suppiramaniyam Famer 51 

38 Pusari Kanthasami Coolly 46 

39 Sinnakkydi Kathiravan Arumukam Government Job 72 

40 Santhiya Alpons Susainathan Business 36 

41 Akkinimuththu Ramasami Coolly 34 

42 Bransisavari Saram Famer 54 

43 Sebamalai Merikarmilarani Housewife 28 

44 Loranspillai Baviluppillai Famer 47 

45 Santhiyappillai Mariyampillai Famer 30 

46 Saminathan Kannusami Watcher 28 

47 Kappaneyina Najimutheen Coolly 32 

48 Velu Banneerchchelvam Business 31 

49 Ponnampalam Business 40 

50 Arulanantham Thurairaja Government Job 32 

51 Ponnaiya Alakaiya Famer 65 

52 Pensameen Stipanjere Thavaratnam Sergeant of Jail 45 

53 Sellaiya Sanmukanathan Nurse 45 

54 Velu Rajalingam Coolly 25 

55 Seemanpillai Santhiyampillai Famer 58 

56 Velu Kanapathippillai Famer 58 

57 Pilenthiran Alpons Famer 55 

58 Veluppillai Kanapathippillai Famer 58 

59 Susai Neekkilas Coolly 38 

8. Mulliyavalai massacre 16.01.1985 


01 Nagaratnam Sriskantharasa 35 

02 Thambaiya Vivekanantham Student 17 

03 Sinnappan Annalaxmi Housewife 35 

04 Suppan Sinnan Self Employment 40 

05 Pilippaiya Antan Yokarasa Fisherman 17 

06 Sellaththurai Kumarasami Famer 35 

07 Sellaththurai Navaratnam Famer 38 

08 Kumarasami Vijayakumari Housewife 27 

09 Markkandu Thadsanamoorththi Fisherman 19 

10 Thambaiya Balasubramaniyam Famer 30 

11 Navaratnam Thayaparan Student 15 

9. Vaddakandal massacre 30.01.1985 


01 Ponnar Ponnappan Fisherman 30 

02 Santhan Thombaimiyes Famer 28 

03 Savariyan Alponsparula Famer 25 

04 Madaiyappan Pandiyappan Famer 24 

05 Muththannathevar Nadarasa 39 

06 Murukesu Thambappillai 55 

07 Rasu Selvarasa Driver 30 

08 Kannikkavundar Suntharalinkam Famer 23 

09 Karuppaiya Jeyaratnam 25 



98


10 Piransi Kaiththan Famer 27 

11 Piransi Saminathan Famer 37 

12 Thirumal Ramachchanderan 26 

13 Manaval Victor Shals 45 

14 Alexsandar Parnanthu 72 

15 Arunasalam Suntharamoorththi 45 

16 Sebamalai Pernando Business 21 

17 Sellaiya Ramasami Famer 35 

18 Vellaichchami Muththurasa Famer 20 

19 Sellaiya ramasami 30 

20 Venkadasalam Thevaraj Famer 34 

21 Vellaichchami Muththurasa 35 

22 Ganappirakasam Sebmalai Famer 22 

23 Santhiyeku Anthoni Famer 40 

24 Suppan Palani 42 

25 Suppiramaniyam Sanmukanathan Coolly 33 

26 Sinnaya Seruvarajan Coolly 33 

27 Srikori Radnathurai 32 

28 Raman Thankarasa 56 

29 Ramasami Atputharasa 19 

30 Ramasami Selvarasa 22 

31 Raman Thankarasa Famer 35 

32 Ramachchandiran Theyvenduran Famer 18 

33 Ramasami Selvarasa Famer 27 

34 Piransi Saminathan Famer 36 

35 Muththusami saththiyaseelan Famer 42 

10. Udumbankulam massacre 19.02.1985 


01 Rasaiya Thaventhiran 18 

02 Ponnan Rasathurai 

03 Markkandu Raveendiran 

04 Bathmanathan 

05 Ramasami Kanthaiya 48 

06 Tharman 22 

07 Suntharam Sinnavan 20 

08 Mailan Thiyakarasa 18 

09 Seeniththampi Thavanagan 30 

10 Sillvasrar Innachchi 32 

11 A.Nallathampi 

12 Visvakethu Rasha 23 

13 Kaneshamoorththi Perinban 28 

14 Kanesapillai Mokanarasa 22 

15 Visvakethu Rasharam 23 

16 Ponnampalam Yokarasha 18 

17 Kanapathi Vadivel 27 

18 Suvami Devit 29 

19 Kumaravel Nakarasa 27 

20 Mayilvakanam Thiyakarasa Student 13 

21 Venkittan Kulanthai 

22 Varnakulasinkam Punniyamoorththi 21 

23 Seeniththampi 

24 Somasuntharam Karunanithee 21 

25 Muththuppodi Suvanavathi 

26 Thurai Ramalinkam 

27 Rankan Pol 

28 Masanna Jeyaraj 

29 Thasappu Sellaiya 

30 Seeththampi Arudsellvan 18 

31 Thasappu Sebamalai 

32 Ganapuththu Puvanenthiran 

33 A.Somasuntharam 

34 Vairamuththu Suntharalinkam 



99


35 Kathiresappillai Vairamuththu 

36 Thampippillai Kumaravel 

37 K.Pakkiyarasa 

38 N.Kobalakirusnan 

39 N.Vinayakamoorththi 

40 Muththusami Muththulinkam 

11. Puthukkidiyiruppu Iyankovilady massacre 21.04.1985 


01 Kanakasunthram Karunanantham Self Employment 39 

02 Seeni Josep 32 

03 Seeni Thevathas 24 

04 Athiriyan Amalathas 19 

05 Appaiya Inthiran 32 

06 Raimenthu Iruthayanathan 45 

07 Thamotharampillai 20 

08 Manikkam Poulinrasa 21 

09 Kiddinan 32 

10 Sankarappillai Saththiyaseelan Student 21 

11 Anthonippillai Suvamippillai Famer 32 

12 Sinkaratnam Ilanko Student 18 

13 Anthinippillai Daidsinssi Student 16 

14 Appaiya Puvanendiran Famer 32 

15 Vinayakamoorththi Rakunathan Self Employment 28 

16 Periyathampi Balasuntharam Coolly 30 

17 Laxmanan 30 

12. Kumuthini Boat massacre 15.05.1985 


01 Basubathi Nirmaladevi 20 

02 Kanthaiya Sathasivam Teacher 56 

03 Jesuthas Fisherman 46 

04 Mariyamma 

05 A.Kanakalinkam Fisherman 34 

06 Thillainathan Fisherman 32 

07 Ganappirakasam Mariyamanikkam Fisherman 45 

08 Sadaiyar Kovinthan Fisherman 46 

09 Sebamalai Anthonippillai Fisherman 45 

10 Sebamalai Kirusdi 24 

11 Nimali 18 

12 Anushiya 23 

13 Penart Kirar Pooranam 22 

14 V.Kanthaiya Fisherman 44 

15 S.Santhirakumar Fisherman 30 

16 Tharmalingam Babu Student 13 

17 Kumarasami Vinayakam Fisherman 38 

18 Sabavathi Theyvanai Fisherman 68 

19 Ganappirakasam Thevasakayam Fisherman 42 

20 Vaiththilingam Sathasivam Fisherman 45 

21 Raman Murugan Fisherman 52 

22 Karaiyur Sinnaiya Government Job 35 

23 Muththan Manivannan Student 13 

24 Rokesiyan Sandirakumar Student 18 

25 Thoppai Nagenthiram 23 

26 Sinnnavan Anthoni 65 

27 Ramanathan 16 

28 Veluppillai Pusparasa 22 

29 Ganasekaram Postmaster 28 

30 Visuvalingam Subajini Child 7 th month 

31 Kanakamma Housewife 55 

32 Palani Mokanathan Fisherman 27 



100


33 Tharmalinkam Amirthalinkam 18 

34 Basubathi Nirmaladevi Student 19 

35 Namasivayam Kanthaiya Driver 45 

36 Ramalinkam Paralokanathan Famer 35 

37 Karththikesu 45 

38 K.Barvathippillai 40 

39 S.Nakendiran Fisherman 32 

40 Kusalakumari 28 

41 Santhalinkam Child 01 

42 G.Sarojadevi Teacher 24 

13. Nilaveli massacre 16.09.1985 


01 Murukesu Thankarasa Famer 46 

02 Kachchumukatheen Mukamathukalith Business 33 

03 Velu Sivasuntharam Business 24 

04 Velu Sithamparanathan Business 25 

05 Sellaththampi Nirmalanathan Business 26 

06 Somasuntharalinkam Arudkumaran Business 20 

07 Anthonippillai Kapiriyal Rajendiran Business 29 

08 Seyyathupukari Apthurasak Business 32 

09 Kanthaya Kanthasami Driver 28 

10 Kanapaththippillai Sountharrajan Driver 28 

11 Sellaththampi Ratnaraja Mechanic 41 

12 Nesathurai Rerans Mechanic 19 

13 Kathirkamaththambi Kanakasapai Coolly 39 

14 Mukamad Kashim Mukamadrasik Coolly 31 

15 Thamotharampillai Neminathan Student 19 

16 Vallipuram Tharmalingam Student 18 

17 Tharmathas Uthayanesan Fisherman 19 

18 Subramaniyam Kaliraja Fisherman 20 

19 Selvavinayagam Jeyagoban Fisherman 26 

20 Rasaiya Thurainayagam Famer 36 

21 Thamotharampillai Sanmokathasan Famer 24 

22 Mamankam Ranjanesan Famer 21 

23 Apusalipu Apthulnaginar Famer 28 

24 Siththiravel Marimuththu Watcher 53 

25 Sinthiravel Marimuththu Watcher 60 

26 Sinkarajar Kilisras Piremathas Employee 20 

27 Sivabalan Kenkatharan Clark 34 

28 Ponnuththurai Parththeepan Coolly 27 

29 Yokarasa Coolly 23 

30 Ratnasami Barvathi Housewife 30 

14. Piramanthanaru massacre 02.10.1985 


01 Kiddinan Sivapathasuntharam Famer 33 

02 Vallipuram Kanesamoorththi Famer 30 

03 Ponnuththurai Pakkiyanathan Famer 21 

04 Vansanatha Kopiyathilake Kamini Fish Business 26 

05 Suppaiya Arunasalam Coolly 29 

06 Sinnaiya Sounthararasan Employee 24 

07 Kanthasami Tharmasinkam Famer 23 

08 Nakappan Saththiyalinkam Famer 21 

09 Sribanraj Saththiyaseelan Famer 26 

10 Karuppaiya Tharmalinkam Famer 23 

11 Karuppaiya Selvarasa Famer 24 



101


15. Vankalai church massacre 06.01.1986 


1. Mariathalmaida Thashan Worker 26 

2. Soosaiyappu Menperis Student 20 

3. Gnanasegaram Rubankurui Fisherman 24 

4. Saviriyan Antony Fisherman 23 

5. Muniyappan Neelamegam Fisherman 28 

6. Santhiya Alexshanthar Fisherman 34 

7. St.Mery Pastiyan Father - 

8. Luyisamma Piranda - 60 

! 

16. Thambalakamam massacres 1985, 1986 

Date of Death - 20-06-1986 


1. Kanapathipillai Sithambaranathan Worker - 

2. Suppiah Santhakumar Sheller - 

3. Kanapathipillai Sabanayakam Worker 51 

4. Segar Kanapathipillai - - 

5. Kanagasabapathy Puvaneswary - - 

6. Kanagasabapathy Ranji - - 

7. Kanagasabapathy Thasan - - 

8. Kanagasabapathy Theesan - - 

9. Kanagasabapathy Theepan - - 

10. Subramaniam Selvarani - - 

11. Suvramaniam Suthakaran - - 

12. Kanthasamy Kanagasabapathy - - 

13. Subramaniam Jeyananth - - 

14. Muniiya Lexsumy - 37 

15. Segar Vanitha - - 

16. Segar Rathiga - - 

17. Segar Kanthamuthu - - 

18. Subramaniam Sasikaran - - 

19. Subramaniam Jeyarani - - 

17. Kilinochchi Railway Station massacre 25.01.1986 


01 Somasekaram Jeyaseelan Student 16 

02 Thavarasa Sinnamani Housewife 40 

03 Thuraisami Kathirkamu Coolly 18 

04 Thavarasa Suganthini Student 11 

05 Bandiyan Sivakuru Business 26 

06 Kulasekaram Thankamma Housewife 64 

18. Eeddimurinchan massacre 19, 20.03.1986 


01 Soosaippillai Mikkes Lakkees Coolly 39 

02 Ponnampalam Kukathas Famer 26 

03 Ponnampalam Vaiththeeswaran Famer 24 

04 Perumal Srirankan Famer 59 

05 K.Kailaikkuddi 35 

06 Appuththurai Neru 45 

07 Raveenthiran Kamalakumar 25 

19. Anandapuram shelling 04.06.1986 


01 Periyanpillai Puspakanthan Student 15 

02 Periyanpillai Senthilkumar Student 18 



102


03 Periyanpillai Kamalanathan Student 20 

04 Periyanpillai Kirupani Student 11 

05 Periyanpillai Vamadevi Student 13 

20. Mandaithivu sea massacre 10.06.1986 


01 Thamiyan Erumin Rubet Uthayakumar Fisherman 26 

02 Manuval Mariyanayakam Fisherman 38 

03 Savariyan Jesuthasan Niksan Fisherman 13 

04 Somasuntharam Sothinathan Fisherman 62 

05 Visuvanathan Vimalanathan Fisherman 23 

06 Sebathesu Seviyar Fisherman 62 

07 Subramaniyam Kobalakirusnan Fisherman 20 

08 Bankiras Tharsiyas Fisherman 30 

09 Manuval Mariyanayakam Fisherman 38 

10 Mudiyappu Anranithas Rajakumar Fisherman 32 

11 Penadict Masila Makenthiran Fisherman 25 

12 Penadict Likori Fisherman 27 

13 Kanthaiya Muththusami Fisherman 55 

14 Alosiyas Dyuri Dorasdyuk Fisherman 24 

15 Antan Selron Veen Fisherman 21 

16 Alosiyas Likori Donas Mount Fisherman 34 

17 Asheervathm Anthonippillai Fisherman 68 

18 Pankiras Antan Vimalathas Thavam Fisherman 23 

19 Yon Yorj Fisherman 56 

20 Penadict Alistan Fisherman 30 

21 Yosapparnanthu Anthonippillaiparnanthu Fisherman 62 

22 Pankiras Antani Yuliyas Fisherman 33 

23 Manuval Bayars Fisherman 56 

24 Emiliyanus Maximas Eswaran Fisherman 21 

25 Penadic Hubert Resan Rames Fisherman 19 

26 Pattic Alosiyass Donas Fisherman 58 

27 Arulanantham Penadict Fisherman 32 

28 Muththaiya Suvaminathan Sebamalai Josab Fisherman 57 

29 Arulanantham Ponibas Fisherman 60 

30 Ganappirakasam Edved Kelinsion Jeyakanthan Fisherman 17 

31 Manuval Battic Fisherman 60 

32 Kristhopar Snachchi Fisherman 54 

21. Paranthan farmers massacre 28.06.1986 

! 


1. Joseph Sebestian - 44 

2. Vaithilingham Palasubramaniam - 23 

3. Munusamy Uthayasooriyan - 17 

4. Narayanapillai Nadarasa - 75 

5. Vinasithamby Sanmuganathan - 18 

6. Subiah Kanagasaby - 39 

7. Arumugam Sivagnanasuntharam - 22 

22. Thanduvan bus massacre 17.07.1986 


1. Segu Abdul Kathar Farmer 55 

2. Nagamani Thatchanamoorthy Government Staff 30 

3. Subramaniyam Sabaratnam - 28 

4. Sivalingham Viveganantham - 17 

5. Kumarasamy Velauthampillai - 22 

6. Muthukumar Kaneswary - 35 

! 



103


23. Adampan massacre 12.10.1986 


1. Thangavel Raman Seller - 

2. Vasthian Sagayanathan Kurus Seller - 

3. Julian Jeyaseelan Farmer 22 

4. Mamundi Selvaras Student 14 

5. Antony Kaspar Carpenter 63 

6. Antonipillai Mesiyas Farmer 28 

7. Iyampillai Nagamuthu - 84 

8. Kristhogu Jovan Farmer 65 

9. Arokkiam Santhal Farmer 30 

10. Rosais Pulendran Farmer 32 

11. Sabapathipillai Thangamma - 70 

12. Veerasingham Manoranjitham Student 24 

24. Periyapandivrichchan massacre 15.10.1986 


1. Rasanayakam Maria Anasteen Student 11 

2. Joseph Piransis Labour 72 

Injured people 

1. Rasanayakam Farmer - 

2. Rasanayakam Mariarani Student - 


Names 

1. V.Vijayasingham 

2. V.Yogeswaran 

3. V.Muththuthamby 

4. V.Kulanthaivel 

5. V.Jeevaratnam 

6. S.Lavan 

7. S.Veelapoodi 

8. S.Yoganathan 

9. S.Mahendramoorthy 

10. S.Mayiluppoodi 

11. S.Mylvaganam 

12. S.Thillainayakam 

13. S.Puvaneswary 

14. S.Eagamparam 

15. S.Sivanesarasa 

16. S.Suthakaran 

17. S.Chanthosam 

18. S.Mageswaran 

19. S.Thiyagarasa 

20. S.Kunathunga 

21. S.Rajeswary 

22. G.Kurugulasingham 

23. G.Nadesam 

24. Velachchi Rasaiya 

25. V.Valliyammai 

26. V.Visumappoodi 

27. V.Ariyanayakam 

28. V.Nallathamby 

29. V.Rasaiya 

30. S.Vijayalingham 

31. S.Manikkappodi 

32. S.Kapilan 

33. S.Ilanthiraiyan 

34. S.Pavani 

35. K.Amirtharasa 

36. K.Narayanapillai 

37. K.Sownthararasa 

38. K.Amirthalingham 

39. K.Nadarasa 

40. Y.Seethevipillai 

41. A.Saththianantham 

42. A.Santhirapillai 

43. A.Revathy 

44. A.Komanathas 

45. A.Tharsana 

46. A.Premalatha 

47. A.Premasasikala 

48. A.Pakkiarasa 

49. A.Kunamani 

50. M.Sellathamby 

51. M.Jeyanthimalar 

52. M.Mageswary 

53. M.Paranchsoothy 

54. M.Kanapathipillai 

55. M.Nallaratnam 

56. M.Vasantharasa 

57. M.Sithamparanathan 

58. M.Saththiaseelan 

59. M.Palasubramaiam 

60. M.Nadesan 

61. T.Sasikaran 

62. T.Santhirasegaram 

63. T.Murugesu 

64. T.Kanagasingham 

65. T.Rasenthiran 

66. T.Ilanko 

67. P.Suthakaran 

68. P.Ambikaipalan 

69. P.Nadarasa 

70. P.Shanmugarasa 

71. P.Shanmugam 

72. P.Venukaran 

73. P.Kanga 

74. K.Sivagnanasivam 

75. K.Sinnamuthu 

76. K.Romikaran 

77. K.Poonnuthurai 

78. K.Pavan 

79. K.Palasundram 

80. K.Palipoodi 

81. K.Kumarathasan 

82. K.Kanthavanam 

83. K.Kanthasamy 

84. Kathirgamathamby 

Thayanantham 

85. K.Raveendran 

86. K.Vikanthan 

87. K.Sivamani 

88. K.Sinnathamby 

89. K.Suvijini 

90. K.Suthakaran 

91. K.Santhalingham 

92. K.Subramaniam 

93. K.Suganthan 

94. K.Santhirasegaran 

95. K.Gnanamuthu 



104


96. K.Sownthararasa 

97. K.Somasuntharam 

98. K.Theivanayagam 

99. K.Kopalapillai 

100. K.Malarvili 

101. K.Parameswary 

102. K.Puvaneswary 

103. K.Palasanthiran 

104. K.Krishnapillai 

105. K.Kajenthiran 

106. K.Kanthaperumal 

107. K.Kandiah 

108. K.Kandiah 

109. K.Nallamma 

110. K.Narumalathevy 

111. K.Nishanthan 

112. K.Nagarasa 

113. K.Ulaganathan 

114. K.yugamini 

115. K.Rupavathani 

116. N.Vinothakumari 

117. N.Suvajini 

118. N.Subramaniam 

119. N.Kopalapillai 

120. N.Jogeswary 

121. N.Kulanthaivel 

122. N.Inparasa 

123. D.Rajini 

124. Rasaratnam 

Thambirasa 

125. R.Sivapatham 

126. R.Veelappodi 

127. R.Mahalingham 

128. R.Thangavel 

129. R.Thangamma 

130. R.Thampirasa 

131. R.Kaneshamoorthy 

132. R.Kamalathevy 

133. R.Uthayakumar 



105


26. Paddithidal massacre 26.04.1987 


1. Ulaganathan Jeyapriya - 26 

2. Ulaganathan Jeyarathy Infant 01 

3. Ulaganathan Yogeswary House wife 26 

4. Paththinian Krishanthi Infant 02 

5. Paththinian Piragas Student 13 

6. Paththinian Atputharasa Infant 02 

7. Paththinian Nesan Student 17 

8. Paththinian Sobana Student 12 

9. Paththinian Seethiyamma House wife 34 

10. Konan Paththinian Worker 42 

11. Konan Ponnamma House wife 60 

12. Konan Mery - 23 

13. Sinnathurai Yogeswary - 29 

14. Sinthamany Palamurugan Student 11 

15. Sinthamany Yogarasa Student 14 

16. Sinthamany Kokuleswary Student 15 

17. Sinthamany Senthilmany Farmer 30 

27. Alvai temple shelling 29.05.1987 


1. Kanapathipillai Sivagami – 69 

2. Kumaran Nallathamby Worker 60 

3. Thuraisingham Kalavathy – 26 

4. Natkunasingham Chandrasegaram Student 08 

5. Sanmugam Pologanathan Student 16 

6. Kanthar Markandu Worker 67 

7. Yogarasa Rathy Infant 01½ 

8. Sivanady Ramanathan Doctor staff 22 

9. Visuvalingham Rasakopal Farmer 30 

10. Kathirithamby Vallipillai - 77 

11. Thambiiya Ramanan Student 18 

12. Thangamayil Sujatha Student 16 

13. Thavarasa Anupama Student 06 

14. Thavarasasingham Kamaleswary - 38 

15. Ratnam Manikam House wife 65 

16. Tahnigasalam Tharmenthiram Student 08 

17. Markandu Sellamma Handicraft! 58 

18. Kanthar Manrkandu Worker 67 

19. Markandu Naguleswaran Worker 34 

20. Selliah Nagamma House wife 50 

21. Kathirgamathamby Yogananthan Student 12 

22. Kathirgamathamby Selvananthan Student 14 

23. Manikam Nagendraraja Student 13 

24. Manikam Usharani Infant 03 

25. Masilamani Suthan Infant 01 

26. Kanesh Ampigapathy - 48 

27. Kathrgamu Kidnapillai Sheller 61 

28. Kanesapathy Suthakaran Agreculture 16 

29. Sivalingham Annammal House wife 65 

30. S.Manikam Worker 57 

31. Nagamuthu Sothilingham Fisherman 63 

32. Manikam Malligathevy House wife 41 

33. Premanantharasa Worker 27 

34. Panchchadcharam Tharmakularasa Farmer 28 

35. V.Marimuthu Worker 54 

36. K.Saddanathan Farmer 54 

37. Ravindran Sellamani House wife 30 

38. Kanapathipillai Sinnathurai Farmer 60 

Injured People 



106



1. Aalvarpillai Student 13 

2. Kandiah Kalaimathy Student 06 

3. S.Kandasamy Post officer! 54 

4. V.Inthirani Housewife 30 

5. S.Vasanthathevy Housewife 38 

6. K.Rasalingham Fisherman 51 

7. M.Velmani Worker 32 

8. Manikam Yogarani House wife 17 

9. Nagulan Student 06 

10. R.Kunasegaram Student 12 

11. Vigneswaran Indrani House wife 21 

12. S.Shanmugathasan Student 10 

13. Manikam Suventhirarajah Student 05 

14. Velluppillai Thambiiya Blood Tester 46 

15. Jenarthanan Student 07 

16. Tahmbiiya Puvaneswary House wife 46 

17. Kulanayakam Vijayasoothy House wife 35 

18. S.Selvarasa Student 06 

19. S.Selvathy House wife 24 

20. K.Kunaratnam House wife 32 

21. S.Kannathasan Student 08 

22. Aalvarpillai Rajamalar Student 09 

28. Sammanthurai massacre 10.06.1990 


1. Thambirasa Uruthiran Stident 16 

2. Rasaratnam Ramachchandran Labour 19 

3. M.Thasan - - 

4. M.Kanapathipillai - - 

5. K.Vadivel - - 

6. S.Kaneshan - - 

7. Sinnathamby Markandu - - 

29. Veeramunai massacre 20.06.1990 


1. Namasivayam Thevarasa - - 

2. T.Mathavan - - 

3. Kanthakkuddy Tharumalingham - - 

4. Rasalingham Alagaiah - - 

5. N.Rasan - - 

6. P.J.Piyanthan - - 

7. M.Arulmani - - 

8. Nagalingham Thavarasa - - 

9. Palasuntharam - - 

10. Kanthavanam Kumar - - 

11. Thampipillai Kandiah - - 

12. Ponnaiah Maheswaran - - 

13. N.Santhirakumar - - 

14. Murugesu Uthayakumar - - 

15. Muthulingham Sellaiah - - 

16. Karuvalthamby Thiruchchelvam - 31 

17. Nagalingham Thiyagarasa Masan 24 

18. Siththathurai Sammanthan Farmer 77 

19. Thambimuthu Kandiah Worker 25 

20. Thirunavukarasu Karunanithy Farmer 18 

21. K.Alagaiah - - 

22. Sinnaththamby Ravichchandran Driver 22 

23. M.Muthukumar - - 

24. A.Sivanesan - - 



107


25. A.E.Thevathasan - - 

26. Vairamuthu Sivam - - 

27. Ilayathamby Kanapathipillai - - 

28. Sinnaiah Muthaiya - - 

29. A.A.Sanmugavel - - 

30. Thangarasa Manokaran - - 

31. Sanmugam Ilachsegar Student 18 

32. Markandu Sivananthan - - 

33. Kathiravelu Rasalingham Farmer 29 

34. Thangarasa Uthayasooriyan - - 

35. Kanthavanam Somasuntharam - - 

36. Kanthavanm Arumugam - - 

37. Alagaiah Samiththamby - - 

38. Kandiah Thishanayakka - - 

39. S.Manokaran - - 

40. Sinnaththamby Annathasan - - 

41. Sivasampu Thevarasa - - 

42. Samiththamby Subramaniyam - - 

43. Pandiyan Muniyandi - - 

44. A.Siththiravel - - 

45. Sellaiah Krishnapillai - - 

46. P.Nanthasiri - - 

47. A.Paramanathan - - 

48. A.Murugasapillai - - 

49. Kathiresapillai Santhirasegar - - 

50. K.Ravichchandran - - 

51. K.Alagaiah - - 

52. V.Rasathurai - - 

53. V.Piransis - - 

54. P.Suseepan - - 

55. A.Yoganathan - - 

56. Selvan Sivanathan - - 

57. Sivagnanam Kaneshan - - 

58. Sellaiah Ashogan Electricity worker 24 

59. A.Kanagaretnam - - 

60. Sellaththamby Karunanithy Paper company worker 24 

61. Manickam Jeganathan - - 

62. Sinnaththamby Vanniyasingham - - 

63. Veluppillai Suthakaran - - 

64. Kalikkuddy Ulaganathan - - 

65. Seeni Thapaseelan - - 

66. Thevanayagam Mehenthiran - - 

67. Markandu Yogarasa - - 

68. Santhiran Arulappan - - 

69. Maniam Somasuntharam - - 

70. Veluppillai Nagenthiran - - 

71. Siththiravel Pathmanathan - - 

72. Palan Ketharan - - 

73. Egamparam Tharumalingham - - 

74. Veluppillai Theivanayagam - - 

75. Nallathamby Thavarasa - - 

76. Velluppillai Santhirakumar - - 

77. Seeniththamby Velmurugu - - 

78. Sivananthan Palachchandran - - 

79. Kirupanantham Amirthalingham - - 

80. Velluppillai Thiruchchelvam - 22 

81. Sivanantham Ravichchandran - - 

82. Arasaretnam Mahenthiran - - 

83. Alagaiah Veerasenan - - 

84. Alagaiah Ragunathan - - 

85. Muthulingham Palapaskaran - - 

86. Kanapathipillai Ponnuththurai - - 

87. Sangarapillai Vilvarasa Farmer 20 



108


88. Siththaturai Thevarasa - - 

89. Sivananthan Indran - - 

90. Kandiah Kaneshamoorthy - - 

91. Samiththamby Thangavel Student 24 

92. Samiththamby Kanapathipillai - - 

93. Velluppillai Yogarasa - - 

94. Subramaniam Nadeswaran - - 

95. Iyathurai Kovinthan - - 

96. Murugesu Paskaran - - 

97. Kanapathipillai Sivapalan - - 

98. Ponnuchchamy Kaneshamoorthy Teacher 26 

99. Vairamuthu Kopalapillai - - 

100. Karuppaiah Sivasamy - - 

101. Irulandy Amirthalingham - - 

102. Kandiah Navaratnam - - 

103. Velluppillai Kathiramali - - 

104. Siththathurai Selvarasa - - 

105. Murugeshapillai Pathmanathan - - 

106. Kanthasamy Vijayakumar - - 

107. Ponnuchchamy Kanthasamy - 24 

108. Vinayagamoorthy Palu - - 

109. Manickam Murugesapillai Farmer 21 

110. Kaththamuthu Nagenthiran - - 

111. Kanapathipillai Parasuraman - - 

112. Sivanadiyar Ravichchandran - - 

113. Kanagaretnam Sithamparamoorthy - 21 

114. Ramathasan Vanithasan - - 

115. Nadarasa Kirubairasa - 39 

116. Masilamani Vinayagamoorthy Farmer 26 

117. Kanapathipillai Sanmuganathan - 35 

118. Thambimuthu Thayaparan - - 

119. Rasaiah Parameswary - - 

120. Muruguppillai Gnanamma - - 

121. Kanapathipillai Puspalatha - - 

122. Veerapandiyan Jamuna - - 

123. Kandiah Kanapathipillai - - 

124. Kunaretnam Sivakowri - - 

125. Kanapathipillai Thavarasa - - 

126. Thambimuthu Sinnathurai - 52 

127. Murugupillai Thangaratnam - - 

128. E.Sinnapillai - 50 

129. Ponnaiah Valliyammai - 67 

130. Palaniththamby Manickam - 46 

131. R.Mylvaganam - 50 

132. K.Sivalingham - 48 

133. Thambimuthu Siththathurai Farmer 70 

134. S.Manickam - 35 

135. Vellaiyan Student 07 

136. U.Nadarasa - - 

137. Kulenthiran Ajanthan - 03 

138. Thanbimuthu Thayaparan - - 

139. Kanapathipillai Sivalingham Driver 49 

140. Ravi Thillaiyamma - - 

141. Yogarasa Kirubananthy - - 

142. Arulappa Inthurujan - - 

143. Arumugam Kala - - 

144. Raman - - 

145. P.Mariyan - - 

146. Muruguppillai Thangarasa - - 

147. Muthulingham Parameswary Teacher 32 

148. Nadarasa Uthayakumar - 07 

149. Arasaratnam Valliyammai - - 

150. Seeniththamby Marimuthu - - 



109


151. Arunasam Sinnapillai - 55 

152. Thangarasa Ragini - - 

153. Kailasapillai Thevarasa Student 08 

154. Rasaiah Parameswary - - 

155. Rasaiah Subashini Student 16 

156. E.Subashini Stuednt 17 

157. Kathiravel Rajenthiran - - 

158. K.Marimuthu - - 

159. Thanganesm Vellupilaai - - 

160. Thambimuthu Siththathuram Farmer 70 

161. Alagaiah Siva - - 

162. Kanagasabapathy Ilango - - 

163. Ponnampalam Rasamany - - 

164. Nagalingham Marimuthu - - 

165. Ramakkuddy Ponnama - - 

166. Velluppillai Kasiyananthan - - 

167. Markandu Thangavel - - 

168. Arunasalam Rasaretnam - - 

169. Masilamani Tharumalingham - - 

170. Kathirgamathamby Karunakaran - - 

171. K.Karuvalthamby - - 

172. Velmurugu Muthu - - 

173. Sellaiah Somasuntharam - - 

174. Pathmanathan Vinayagamoorthy - - 

175. Ramakkuddy Ponnamam - 65 

176. Arunasalam Rasaretnam - - 

177. Arumugam Theiventhiram Carpenter 34 

178. Kanthavanam Kandasamy - - 

179. Maruthuris Selvarasa - - 

180. Kanapathipillai Sanmugam - - 

181. Kaththamuthu Sanmuganathan Farmer 40 

182. Siththathurai Kalickuddy Farmer 47 

183. Krishnapillai Kanagasooriyam - - 

184. Kathiramaththamby Rasaiah - - 

185. Sinnathurai Kalickuddy - - 

186. Sathasivam Puvanenthiran - - 

187. Kaththamuthu Sanmuganathan - - 

188. Sangarapillai Atputharasa - - 

189. Sathasivam Thevarasa - - 

190. Pavil Sanmugam - - 

191. Ponnaiah UthayaKumar - - 

192. Alagaiah Ramachchandran - - 

193. Krishnapillai Mohanarajah - - 

194. Kandiah Tharumalingham - - 

195. Thambipillai Rasalingham - - 

196. Kathiravel Rathigakrishanan - - 

197. Manickam Palu - - 

198. Pandiyan Muniyandy - - 

199. Iyathurai Mageswaran - - 

200. Solaman Mohanarajan Sakayanathan Seller 22 

201. Krishnapillai Suntharalingham - - 

202. Sinnathamby Kugathas - - 

203. Seeni Jeyaseelan - - 

204. Sellaiah Vadivel - - 

205. Kanapathy Indran - - 

206. Kumaran Sinnaththamby - - 

207. Palan Mahenthiran - - 

208. Nallathamby Vadivel - - 

209. Kanapathy Santhiran - - 

210. Nallathamby Vigneswaran - - 

211. Vairamuthu Theivanai - - 

212. Vairamuthu katpagam - - 

213. Ilayathamby Sellamma - - 



110


214. Sellan Arulamma - - 

215. Krishnapillai Vijayakumary - - 

216. Kanapathipillai Rageswary - - 

217. Siththathurai Baby - - 

218. Ilayathamby Sinnapillai - - 

219. Masilamani Selvaratnam - - 

220. Tharmalingham Ponnuththurai - - 

221. Arumugam Kandasamy - - 

222. Sinnaththamby Thilageswary - - 

223. Veerackuddy Kidnan - - 

224. Ponnampalam Ragenthiran - - 

225. Nadaras Ilango - - 

226. Sellathurai Tharmalingham - - 

227. Nallathamby Kopal - - 

228. Arasaretnam Kathiramalai - - 

229. Samiththamby Kunaseelan - - 

230. Kanthackuddy Packiyarasa - - 

231. Thirunavukkarasr Pusparasa - - 

232. Retnam Selvarasa Farmer 20 

30. Paranthan junction massacre 24.07.1990 


1. Satkunanathan Ranjithakumar Seller 22 

2. Savarimuthu Ranjan Farmer 22 

3. Sangarapillai Sivakurunathan Student 18 

4. Seldansbek Prinkgespek Mersan 19 

5. Selladurai Vigneswaran Farmer 21 

6. Ponnuthurai Ponniyamoorthy Mersan 22 

7. Antony Sagathevan Farmer 20 

8. Thangarasa Ravichchandran Farmer 21 

9. Kanthasamy Alagaratnam Farmer 24 

10. Poopalasingham Kodiyarasan Farmer 25 

11. Kaneshapillai Lingeswaran Farmer 20 

12. Sangarapillai Sivagurunathan - 20 

13. Sivarasa Satheeskumar - 19 

14. Kandasamy Alagaratnam - 24 

31. Poththuvil massacre 30.07.1990 


1. Sellathurai Chandran - 20 

2. Kandiahpillai Sivasuntharan - 26 

3. Kanthan Navaratnam - 21 

4. Kanthappan Aananthan Worker 26 

5. Kaththamuthu Sunil Worker 35 

6. Kalikuddy Amirthlingham - 27 

7. Krishnan Alagaiah Worker 24 

8. Kanapathy Pathmanathan Worker 25 

9. Kanapathipillai Tharumaratnam Worker 51 

10. Kengatharan Jeyakumar Worker 22 

11. Ponnan Mosan Worker 25 

12. Somalingham Visvalingham Worker 42 

13. Rajathurai Kamalanathan Infant 03 

14. Sellathurai Kanthasamy - 35 

15. Kanagaratnam Sinnarasa - 27 

16. Sellamuthu Subramaniam Worker 18 

17. Velautham Karunanithy Worker 32 

18. Gnanachselvan Uthayakumar Worker 18 

19. Sunthararagan Tharumalingham - 21 

20. Subramaniam Rasu - 20 

21. Subpaiah Kathirgamanathan - 22 

22. Subpaiah Archsunan - 26 



111


23. Subpaiah Arumugam Worker 39 

24. Kanapathipillai Selvaratnam Worker 35 

25. Kanapathipillai Theiventhiran - 23 

26. Pakkiri Sittampalam - 30 

27. Palan Jeyanantham Worker 25 

28. Selvarasa Suventhiran Worker 20 

29. Thambiar Thevasuntharam Watcher 70 

30. Nagamani Kunaseelan - 25 

31. Nallathamby Pakkiarasa - 23 

32. Kannachchi Subramaniam - 34 

33. Kanagaratnam Sinnarasa - 52 

34. Kanagasabai Navarasa - 26 

35. Kandiah Nallathambi - 33 

36. Kandiah Tharumaratnam - 32 

37. Kandiah Sivakumar - 27 

38. Kandiah Sivakumaran - 22 

39. Kandiapillai Sivasubramaniam - 26 

40. Kanthan Navaratnam - 21 

41. Kaneshapillai Chandran - 36 

42. Kandiah Kanesh Student 16 

43. Santhirapillai Vinayagamoorthy Worker 20 

44. Kandiah Nallathamby - 33 

45. Thambimuthu Krishnapillai - 52 

46. Mooththathamby Rasanayagam - 33 

47. Ilaiyathamby Kirubakakaran Worker 39 

48. Ilaiyathamby Karunakaran - 23 

49. Ramalingham Eesvaran - 23 

50. Santhianathan Pathmanathan - 32 

51. Nagamani Kunaseelan - 25 

52. Nadarasa Savunthararasa - 19 

53. Sannasi Subramaniam - 34 

54. Kanagasabai Kirubairasa Worker 30 

55. Kanagasabai Thavarasa Worker 26 

56. Iyappan Selvarasa Worker 41 

57. Namani Siththathurai Fisherman 45 

58. Seeniththamby Subramaniam Worker 26 

59. Pathamanathan Vigneswaran Worker 14 

60. Sabapathy Mahenthiran - 22 

61. Shanthy Satkunam - 40 

62. Saththianathan Yoganathan Worker 26 

63. Sathasivam Velluppillai Worker 50 

64. Sathasivam Sivalingham Worker 45 

65. Sinnappillai Vijayakumar - 20 

66. Sinnathurai Pathmanathan - 26 

67. Sinnathurai Yogarasa - 29 

68. Sinnaththamby Nadarasa - 34 

69. Sinnaththamby Suntharam Worker 30 

70. Sinnaththamby Sabanantham Worker 28 

71. Kopalakrishnan Pathmanathan Worker 26 

72. Seeniththamby Kanthasamy - 45 

73. Kopal Ramesh - 20 

74. Vadivel Muththukumar Worker 17 

75. Vadivel Alaganayagam Worker 30 

76. Vadivel Selvanayagam Worker 17 

77. Vadivel Santhirasegararagan Worker 42 

78. Vannamani Manivannan - 20 

79. Veeran Rasaiah - 35 

80. Veeran Pushparasa - 32 

81. Veeran Selvarasa - 29 

82. Ratnam Jeyaseelan - 24 

83. Lalith Thurairasa Mechant 49 

84. Kanapathipillai Yoganathan Worker 20 

85. Arumugam Kaneshamoorthy Student 19 



112


86. Sinnarasa Theiventhiran - 23 

87. Tharumalingham Santhiran - 21 

88. Tharumalingham Paskaran - 13 

89. Thambipillai Poopalapillai Worker 32 

90. Thambirasa Rasakumar Worker 18 

91. Thambirasa Manogar Worker 38 

92. Thambirasa Thevasuntharam Worker 65 

93. Thisanayaga Obesegara Worker 42 

94. Thisanayaga Sabeser Student 19 

95. Thilagaratnam Parathy Worker 24 

96. Thilagaratnam Lalith Worker 23 

97. Thangarasa Mahenthiran Worker 17 

98. Tharumalingham Rasenthiram - 26 

99. Sabapathy Mahenthiran Seller 26 

100. Tharumalingham Muthulingham Worker 24 

101. Pathmanathan Ravinthiran Worker 40 

102. Tharumalingham Santhalingham - 23 

103. Marimuthu Mahenthiran - 18 

104. Manikkam Paramasivan - 31 

105. Manikkam Thambirasa Worker 26 

106. Manikkam Selvarasa Worker 27 

107. Manikkam Ravichsanthiran Worker 32 

108. Muthuthaiah Saththianathan - 18 

109. Antonipillai Mahenthirakumar - 16 

110. Alagaiah Siyamsegar Worker 36 

111. Arulampalam Vasu - 19 

112. Arumugam Rasaratnam Worker 20 

113. Joseph Sriramu Worker 32 

114. Tharumalingham Kaneshamoorthy Worker 23 

32. Tiraikerny massacre 06.08.1990 


1. Nagalingham - - 

2. Kathiran Packiyarasa - - 

3. Murugan Ilayathamby - - 

4. Thambiyappa Kopal - - 

5. Kanthkkuddy Vellautham - - 

6. Markandu Kirubai - - 

7. Sinnathamby Kanni - - 

8. Satkunam Ilayathamby - - 

9. Visvalingham Alagai - - 

10. Poopalapillai Pulenthiran - - 

11. Samiththamby Sowntharanayakam - - 

12. Ramakkuddy Mylvaganam - - 

13. Sellaththurai Krishdiyan - - 

14. Ponnan Alagaiah - - 

15. Velluppillai Paskaralingham - - 

16. Kanagaratnam Alagai - - 

17. Markandu Mylvaganam - - 

18. Satkunam Vijayaluxsumy - - 

19. Murugesu Nagenthiram - - 

20. Kanapathy Kalikkuddy - - 

21. Samiththamby Nagarasa - - 

22. Kalikkuddy Packiyarasa - - 

23. Sellaiah Packiyarasa - - 

24. Velan Kathiresapillai - - 

25. Kanthan Navaratnam - - 

26. Selvam Seeniththamby - - 

27. Veluppillai Kunarasa - - 

28. Sellaththurai Palachchanthiran - - 

29. Thambimuthu Anantharasa - - 



113


30. Rasathurai Pirakala - - 

31. Ilayathamby Mayilappody - - 

32. Sellaththurai Amirthalingham - - 

33. Poopalpillai Egamparam - - 

34. Sinnththmby Thambippillai - - 

35. Kanapathipillai Amirthalingham - - 

36. Muthiran Kanapathy - - 

37. Kalikkuddy Thambipillai - - 

38. Kanagaratnam Subramaniayam - - 

39. Markandu Jeyakumar - - 

40. Sinnaththamby Sivasithamparam - - 

41. Kanapathipillai Krishnan - - 

42. Kanapathy Kalimuthu Doctor 45 

43. R.Mylvaganam Worker 18 

44. Kanthkkuddy Poopalapillai Worker 19 

45. Nallathamby Pulenthiran Worker 27 

46. K.Paskaralingham Worker 39 

47. T.Kopal Worker 50 

48. M.Kirubai Worker 30 

49. S.Packiyarasa Worker 26 

50. M.Kunchiththamby Worker 50 

51. K.Samiththamby Farmer 43 

52. K.Packiyarasa Worker 34 

53. P.Polenthirarasa Worker 30 

33. Nelliyadi market bombing 29.08.1990 


1. Santhirasegaram Vallipuram Farmer 70 

2. Kiddinan Gnanarooban Student 12 

3. Mahesahn Sanmugeswaramoorthy Farmer 36 

4. Nagarasa Aananthapairavi Seller 20 

5. Murugaiah Nirmaleswaran Farmer 18 

6. Ponniah Mahendran Officer 48 

7. Rasaiah Puspavathy Seller 50 

8. Appuththurai Kunaratnam Seller 54 

9. Ponnampalam Somaskanthasivam Post officer 58 

10. Somaskanthasivam Mangalanayagi ammai Principal 58 

11. Selvan Student 14 

12. Japan - 50 



114


34. Natpiddymunai massacre 10.09.1990 


01 Kasippillai Sivakumar 31 

02 Kunaratnam Suthakaran 23 

03 Kunaratnam Muralitharan 21 

04 Kulanthaiverl Ponnuththurai 26 

05 Veerakkuddy Thankavel 27 

06 Mayilvakanam Parameswaran 27 

07 Vellaippody Thavarasa 23 

08 Varatharasan Waratheeswaran 20 

09 Sathasivam Thankaththurai 23 

10 Sivanathappillai Thankaththurai 23 

11 Ekamparam Thamilvanan 19 

12 Ganappirakasam Thuvani 22 

13 Kanabathippillai Nesaththurai 22 

14 Arumugam Nadesan 29 

15 Rasamanikkam Thiyakarasa 23 

16 Thampirasa Vivekananthan 22 

17 Thuraiyappa Nadesan 23 

18 Elaiyathampi Selvarasa 30 

19 Kanakaraththinam Thankavel 19 

20 Kanakasooriyar Kobalasinkam 28 

21 Kanthappodi Pusparasa 23 

22 Kulasegaram Selvanayagam 26 

23 Thampikuththu Bakkiyarasa 27 

35. Vantharamullai90 massacre 05, 23,09,1990 


1. Gnanamuthu Kathirgamathamby Private worker 20 

2. Mamankkam Sanmuganathan Fisherman 18 

3. Muththupillai Tharumalingham Worker 69 

4. Muthulingham Fisherman 27 

5. Mahenthirarasa Sulaxsana - 06 

6. Arumaithurai Vimalan Worker 18 

7. K.Kanageswary Private worker 26 

8. Muththuthamby Sinnamuthu - 70 

9. Joseph Sivakumar Worker 16 

10. Arumaithurai Inpam Own worker 18 

11. Thambimuthu Pethamparam Student 18 

12. Albons Nelsan Student 18 

13. Thambiiya Jegan - 11 

14. K.Seethevy - 05 

15. Arunachsalam Sinnathamby Fisherman 44 

16. Arumugam Kanthalingham Own Worker 30 

17. Arumugam Kirubamoorthy Worker 26 

18. Arumugam Thamotharampillai Worker 22 

19. Jeseph Suntharalingham Worker 33 

20. A.Kasupathy Worker 74 

21. Kanthasamy Sriskantharasa Own Worker 24 

22. Rasaiah Devid Driver 34 

23. Rasathurai Kanagasabai Fisherman 18 

24. Nadarasa Jorch Stanly Government officer 39 

25. Nadesan Subramaniam Own Worker 29 

26. Nallathamby Mahendran Worker 28 

27. Nallathamby Nagarasa Own Worker 25 

28. Kandiah Kathiravel Worker 20 

29. Kandiah Thavarasa Worker 18 

30. S.Saroyathevy Private worker 25 

31. Kanthasamy Navaratnam Own Worker 19 

32. Vairamuthu Pusparasa Own Worker 40 

33. Kaneshan Thiyagarasa Worker 24 

34. Karunakaran Arunachsalam Worker 29 



115


35. Kanapathipillai Thangathurai Own Worker 25 

36. Kanapathipillai Murugaiah Worker 18 

37. Poopalapillai Theiventhiramoorthy Government officer 33 

38. Panchadcharam Nadarasa Worker 25 

39. Thambiyappa Vinayagamoorthy Driver 26 

40. Navaratnam Priyatharsini - 05 

41. Kandiah Anantharatnam Fisherman 28 

42. Kathiramapoodi Parameswary House wife 31 

43. Sinnathamby Jonas Own Worker 35 

44. Suppaiah Palasubramaniam Own Worker 40 

45. Sinnappu Yogarasa Own Worker 28 

46. Sinnarasa Rajenthiram Student 23 

47. Seenithamby Pillainayagam Worker 22 

48. Sithambarapillai Thanigasalam Government officer 40 

49. Sivakuru Nadarasa Own Worker 37 

50. Sivasubramaniam Kirubakaran Student 21 

51. Veluppillai Rasu Worker 22 

52. Veerakuddy Palagapoody Worker 55 

53. Sanmugam Selvaratnam Student 16 

54. Kandiah Selvarasa Worker 28 

55. K.Mahendran Own Worker 27 

56. Markandu Mahendran Private worker 19 

57. Amirthalingham Jeyasangar Own Worker 36 

58. Nagarasa Ragunanthan Worker 27 

59. Arumugam Vivegananthan Private worker 29 

60. Thamotharam Vallipillai Farmer 77 

61. Kanthapoody Jeyaseelan Worker 19 

62. Sivalingham Sellathamby Own Worker 21 

63. Mariyappa Thamilselvan Student 15 

64. Sathasivam Kuberan Own Worker 19 

65. Veluppillai Yogan Own Worker 30 

66. Somalingham Vasagan Government officer 70 

67. Selliah Subramaniam Own Worker 59 

68. Selvarasa Navaratnam Worker 27 

69. Muththaiah Kanthasamy Student 19 

70. Alagipoody Kumar Student 21 

71. Alagaiah Yogarasa Worker 19 

72. Illayathamby Pakkianathan Worker 19 

73. Rasaiah Jeyanathan Worker 35 

74. Krishnapillai Murugesu Worker 24 

75. Vairamuthu Tharmalingham Own Worker 60 

76. Siththiravel Sathananthakumar Student 16 

77. Selliah Uthayanathan Farmer 28 

78. Vellaichchamy Kanniah Farmer 45 

79. Suppaiah Edman Own Worker 19 

80. Velluppillai Pakkiarasa Own Worker 32 

81. Kanthpoody Selvarasa Worker 45 

82. Sinnathurai Pusparasa Fisherman 22 

94/ Selvarasa Uthayakumar Own Worker 31! 


1. S.Sampuranathan Own Worker 27 

2. Thambiyappa Kulanthaivel Own Worker 25 

3. Pulenthiran Shanthamery - 04 

4. Siththiravel Manimegalai Worker 18 

5. Inthumathy Student 15 

Missing People 

Worker 22 

1. Rageswary Ranjan Worker 27 

2. Kandiah Muthuvadivel Worker 17 

3. Kuddiyandi Ramasamy Student 22 



116


4. Madasamy Shangar Student 22 

5. Thambiyappa Sagayarasa Worker 25 

6. Samuvel Yogenthiran Worker 19 

7. Rasanayagam Sivalooganayagi Government officer 17 

8. Selvanayagam Jeyarasa Farmer 21 

9. S.Vinorajah Student 22 

Arrested people 

1. Vettivel Yogarasa Own Worker 21 

2. Subramaniam Suthakaran Own Worker 16 

3. Sivalingham Ravinathan Own Worker 24 

4. Sinnaiah Kandiah Own Worker 31 

5. Nagarasa Kaneshamoorthy Own Worker 19 

6. Sabaratnam Jesuthasan Driver 30 

7. Sambunathapillai Tharmaraja Driver 25 

8. Velappan Ravindrakumar Farmer 19 

9. Kopalan Yogarasa Worker 17 

10. Iyathurai Jeyarasa Own work 78 

11. Tharmalingham Kanagasingham Worker 33 

12. Selvam Sunthresan Worker 18 

13. Thambipillai Suntharamoorthy Fisherman 20 

14. Fernando Jeyakumar Own work 19 

15. Kanthasamy Vasantharajan Own work 27 

36. Saththurukkondan massacre 09.09.1990 


1. R.Nagamma - 26 

2. R.Theepa - 10 

3. R.Jegatheesan - 10 

4. R.Nagamma House wife 26 

5. J.Kumuthiny - 12 

6. J.Nesamma - 25 

7. J.Thevarasi - 27 

8. J.Santhiriya - 19 

9. J.Seeniththamby - 70 

10. J.Vanitha - 12 

11. E.Jeevanathan - 30 

12. U.Kalimuthu - 55 

13. U.Mariamuthu House wife 33 

14. U.Kopickannan - 12 

15. Umaithamby - 70 

16. Nallaiah Ramachchandran Own work 44 

17. K.Nallaiah Own work 72 

18. K.Sureshkaran - 11 

19. Kanthan Ilayathamby - 55 

20. Kamala - 09 

21. Kanapathipillai Thangamuthu Own work 46 

22. P.Kanthasamy - 29 

23. P.Kamalanthan - 09 

24. P.Kavitha - 12 

25. P.Thamenthiny - 04 

26. P.Archchimuthu - 76 

27. P.Ponnamma - 70 

28. P.Santhanam - 37 

29. P.Sriluxsumy - 18 

30. P.Vinothiny - 12 

31. P.Vasanthy - 23 

32. Pirapa - 02 

33. T.Dilani - 05 

34. T.Nanthiny - 16 

35. T.Nathan - 12 



117


36. T.Nageswary - 37 

37. T.Nitharshini - 12 

38. T.Kugan - 10 

39. T.Kirubakaran - 03 

40. T.Kanmani - 32 

41. T.Kannan - 25 

42. T.Kanapathipillai - 50 

43. T.Poopalapillai - 65 

44. T.Paramsoothy - 37 

45. T.Piratheepan - 05 

46. T.Thillaiyamma - 63 

47. T.Mahaluxsumy - 31 

48. T.Malai - 55 

49. T.Jeyackanthan - 10 

50. T.Jegan - 09 

51. T.Mohanasuntharam - 27 

52. T.Selva - 07 

53. T.Sri - 28 

54. T.Vijayakumar (Kumaran) - 08 

55. T.Vijayaluxsumy - 29 

56. T.Vasanthy - 01 

57. T.Rasenthiran - 04 

58. I.Murugan - 65 

59. V.Thangamma - 38 

60. Vairamuthu Atputhavadivel Own work 46 

61. T.Kanapathipillai - 50 

62. Thambipillai - 72 

63. Thambiiya Kirubairatnam Own work 50 

64. M.Selvanayagam - 55 

65. M.Ramaiya - 70 

66. R.Kamalrajah - 11 

67. R.Nesamma - 62 

68. R.Suthakaran - 10 

69. R.Viji - 08 

70. R.Vasanthy - 15 

71. Alagaiah Navaretnam House wife 16 

72. Alagaiah Manchsula House wife 14 

73. Alagaiah Sowthirarajan Student 12 

74. J.Vijayaluxsumy - 10 

75. J.Ramani - 02 

76. Jothyvadivel - 06 

77. K.Mooththathamby - 79 

78. K.Ilayathamby - 55 

79. K.Eelan - 15 

80. K.Nagaratnam - 40 

81. K.Nallaiah - 72 

82. K.Nallamma - 66 

83. K.Karikaran - 08 

84. K.Kathirgamathamby - 75 

85. K.Kathirgamathamy - 68 

86. K.Kumutha - 23 

87. K.Kamalan - 06 

88. K.Keetha - 12 

89. K.Krishnapillai - 14 

90. K.Kannan - 10 

91. K.Packiyam - 46 

92. K.Tharani - 04 

93. K.Thambaiah - 65 

94. K.Thangamma House wife 75 

95. K.Thangavel - 26 

96. K.Arasamma - 60 

97. K.Nesamma - 48 

98. K.Sathes - 04 



118


99. K.Siyamala - 13 

100. K.Sinnamuthu - 66 

101. K.Sivatharsan - 05 

102. K.Savuntharam - 38 

103. K.Vimala - 02 

104. K.Vasikala Child 13 

105. K.Rasaththy Child 12 

106. K.Rameshkaran Child 07 

107. Periyathamby Own work 75 

108. Thevy - 32 

109. Sebastiyan Selvanayagam Labour 45 

110. Venurajah - 25 

111. Lexsumy Own work 48 

112. G.Sowntharanayagam - 26 

113. Santhimathy Own work 20 

114. Samiththamby Alagaiah Labour 34 

115. Sinnaththamby Veluppillai Own work 68 

116. Seeni Kopal - 57 

117. Siththirathevy - 29 

118. Sivatharshini Child 04 

119. V.Nallaiah - 27 

120. V.Poomani - 45 

121. V.Jothyvadivel Student 06 

122. V.Sarmila Student 08 

123. V.Luxsumy - 48 

124. Ratnaraja Rukthy - 06 

125. A.Jeeva - 15 

126. A.Umaithamby - 70 

127. A.Navaratnam - 45 

128. A.Manchsula - 18 

129. A.Aththappillai - 72 

130. A.Alagaiah Child 10 

131. A.Arul Child 09 

132. A.Ponnuththurai - 62 

133. A.Sutha - 09 

134. A.Seeththa - 18 

135. S.Indrani Child 10 

136. S.Jeevamalar - 25 

137. S.Nagathesi Child 12 

138. S.Nirmala Child 13 

139. S.Nallaiah - 45 

140. S.Kanthasamy - 29 

141. S.Kasipathiyar - 60 

142. S.Kajenthiny Baby 02 

143. S.Kavitha Child 09 

144. S.Kunaratnam - 33 

145. S.Palippdy - 62 

146. S.Priya Baby 03 months 

147. S.Punniyamoorthy Child 13 

148. S.Thangamma - 57 

149. S.Thangeswary - 24 

150. S.Thavakuneswaran - 25 

151. S.Maheswary - 28 

152. S.Malar Child 09 

153. S.Alagaiah - 50 

154. S.Yogarasa - 14 

155. S.Nesam - 52 

156. S.Ponnampalam - 55 

157. S.Ponnamma - 24 

158. S.Theivanai - 45 

159. S.Selvarasa - 31 

160. S.Gnaneswary - 38 

161. S.Sapapathipillai - 70 



119


162. S.Suresh - 02 

163. S.Saroshathevy - 28 

164. S.Sinnappillai - 35 

165. S.Sinnaththamby - 27 

166. S.Sivaratnam - 12 

167. S.Vadivel - 65 

168. S.Vijayan Baby 01 

169. S.Vinotharan Baby 05 

170. S.Vallippillai - 75 

171. S.Rasalingham - 58 

172. S.Raveenthiran - 21 

173. A.Nagaretnam Own worker 45 

174. A.Sutha Student 09 

175. N.Rasamma - 70 

176. N.Kumuthiny - 18 

177. N.Packiyam - 66 

178. N.Palaththai - 70 

179. N.Prema - 18 

180. N.Piratheepan - 05 

181. N.Tharshini - 06 

182. N.Theepan - 09 

183. N.Jegan - 12 

184. N.Sornamma - 44 

185. N.Venuthas Infant 03 months 

186. N.Venurajah Infant 04 months 

187. V.Gnanaratnam - 32 

188. N.Siththirathevy - 22 

189. N.Sivatharsan - - 

190. M.Packiyam House wife 53 

191. M.Parameswary - 32 

192. M.Sailaya Baby 07 

193. M.Vairamuthu - 55 

194. M.Thulashi Baby 04 

195. M.Periyathamby - 75 

196. M.Thevagi - 25 

197. M.Suposhini Baby 12 

198. M.Sivagnanam - 35 

199. M.Vijayan - 19 

200. M.Rasa - 24 



120


37. Mandaithivu disappearances 23.08.1990, 25.09.1990 


1. M.Siththathurai - 35 

2. N.Jesuthas - 28 

3. N.Ratnasingham - 45 

4. S.Lingeswaran - 21 

5. S.Ravindran - 22 

6. S.Ranjithkumar - 15 

7. S.Sivapalan - 19 

8. S.Sivakumar - 19 

9. S.Sivaroopan - 16 

10. S.Sugirtharatnam - 21 

11. S.Arulnesan - 28 

12. S.Anpalagan - 19 

13. S.Mahendran - 20 

14. S.Thirichchelvam - - 

15. S.Premaratnam Student 16 

16. Vilpered Thevarasa - 25 

17. Vijayaratnam Ravi - 23 

18. V.Donposko - 19 

19. Sivapalasingham - 28 

20. S.Vimalathas - 20 

21. S.Saththiaseelan - 29 

22. S.Aravinthan - 20 

23. Charls Antony Annathas - 27 

24. S.Sathanantharasa - 28 

25. Sornaningham Lingeswaran Farmer 21 

26. S.Sivekkippillai - 30 

27. P.Kanthalingham - 24 

28. K.Vijayakumar - 30 

29. K.Peterpol - 17 

30. K.Pramatheeswaran - 22 

31. K.Rasasegaran - 21 

32. K.Indrakumar - 21 

33. Noberd Ramesh - 19 

34. Y.Vijayapalan - 21 

35. Jesuthas - - 

36. Jorch Sylvestar - 20 

37. Jeyakumar - 22 

38. Alambin Robert - 18 

39. R.Ravindran - 20 

40. R.Murugananthan - 21 

41. Antony Robert - 20 

42. Antony Arokkiarasa - 23 

43. Anton Arulthas - 26 

44. Anton Asilthas Masan 28 

45. A.Jeyaseelan - 23 

46. A.Alagarasa - 19 

47. Mesel Sylvester - 32 

48. Mesel Stanic - 19 

49. Madutheen Antanit - 21 

50. M.Thavaseelan - 24 

51. Thirunayagam Saddanathapillai Farmer 32 

52. T.Palaratnam - 20 

53. V.Edvert - 21 

54. T.Ravindran - 21 

55. T.Rathakrishnan - - 

56. T.Rajahkumar - 32 

57. T.Simon - 20 

58. T.Santhalingham - 20 

59. T.Suntharalingham - 24 

60. T.Gnanenthiran - 20 



121


61. T.Selvaratnam - 25 

62. T.Yogarasa - 18 

63. T.Arulnesan - 22 

64. T.Arokianathan - 23 

65. T.Iruthayarasa - 26 

66. P.Pathmarasa - 20 

67. P.Satheeswaran - - 

68. P.Jeyachandran - 18 

69. P.Thavam - 18 

70. Palanithurai Saththiapalan Farmer 34 

71. Paththinathar Senjude - 27 

72. Paththinathar Dias - 22 

73. Palasingham - 30 

74. N.Kuganantharasa - 24 

75. Uthayakumar - - 

76. Ratnam Jeyaseelan - 23 

77. R.Vipulananthar - 30 

78. R.Suthakaran - 20 

79. Soosaipillai Selvanayagam Fisherman 35 

Other days missing people 

1. Niloosan Dias Edvin 17 17-07-1996 

2. P.Varothayanathan 18 25-05-1993 

3. Thaveethu Penjamin 25 00-10-1992 

4. N.Sachchithanantharasa 24 1986 

5. V.Palaranjan 39 00-02-1991 

38. Oddisuddan bombing 27.11.1990 


1. Allvarpillai Mahendran Student 25 

2. Thambirasa Selvarasa Student 23 

39. Puthukkudiyiruppu junction bombing 30011991 


1. Evisaiya Pathmarasa Gov.officer 37 

2. Kandiah Jegatheeswaran Student 14 

3. Kanthasamy Kavitha Student 14 

4. Kathirgamachchadran Fisherman 26 

5. Krishnasamy Mahenthirasa Student 20 

6. Palasubramaniam Private worker 21 

7. Pasupathy Arigaran Student 14 

8. Mylvaganam Srikanthan Private worker 25 

9. Murugesu Siththiravelu Fisherman 65 

10. Jeyanathan Sivapakkiam Private worker 36 

11. Selliah Nagamany - 60 

12. Subramaniam Sivanantham Farmer 59 

13. Sinnachsamy Kanthasamy Private worker 46 

14. Sinnavan Krishnapillai Farmer 52 

15. Sivarayasegaran Kalaichselvan Student 19 

16. Veerakaththy Kiddinapillai Farmer 70 

17. Veerasingham Thileepkumar Student 19 



122


40. Uruthrapuram bombing 04.02.1991 


1. Vinayagamoorthy Karunakaran Worker 29 

2. Suntharalingham Santhirakumar Student 16 

3. Penalso Thayaparan Student 12 

4. Kopalasingham Jeyakobal Seller 20 

5. Murugesu Tharmalingham Worker 38 

6. Panchchalingham Palenthiran Seller 23 

7. Panchchalingham Palenthira Seller 22 

8. Palasingham Jegatheeswaran Student 15 

9. Kanapathipillai Jeyalingham Student 08 

10. Kanapathipillai Jeyasingham Student 09 

11. Nagalingham Thayaparan Student 14 


1. Kanapathipillai Rasan Student 16 

2. Kaneshan Thavanesan Student 18 

41. Vankalai massacre 17.02.1991 


01 Appukkuddy Kanthaiya Famer 51 

02 Anthoni Kolinlemport Teacher 36 

03 Sebamalai Anthoni Famer 30 

04 Seemanthatkurus Sooyaiyappu Sub Principal 43 

05 Anthonippillai Sebamalai Principal 49 

42. Vaddakkachchi bombing 28.02.1991 


1. Arumugam Vijayaluxmy 

2. Rasenthiram Siththiramma 

3. Sinnathamby Umathevy 

4. Arumugam Kamalathevy 

5. Arumugam Rasenthiran 

6. Murugaiah Siththira 

7. Murugaiah Sumathy 

8. Muniyandy Selvam 

9. Nagamuthu Arumugam 


1. Arumugam Santharuby Student 09 

43. Vattrapalai shelling 18.05.1992 


1. Navaratnasamy Uvarasini Student - 

2. Shanmugalingham - 42 

3. Mariapiragasam Antony - 35 

4. Navaratnasamy Sivasegaram - - 

5. Navaratnam Inthuja Student 12 

6. Navaratnam Sivanesam House wife 32 

7. Navaratnam Rajitha Student 10 

8. Kanapathipillai Sithamparanathan Student 17 

9. Thambirasa Sriskantharasa Farmer 33 

10. Kulanthaivadivel Jegatheeswaran Farmer 24 

11. Sathasivam Navaratnam Fisherman 36 

12. Mariapiragasam Antony Private worker 35 



123



1. Karthigesu Niththiarasa - 18 

2. Kaneshalingham Punitha Infant 03 

3. Vettivelu Mathyvathanam - 13 

4. Sanmugalingham Santhirasegar - 16 

5. Santhinithevy - 16 

6. Kumarasamy Kaneshasuntharam - 16 

7. Nesam - 32 

8. Murugaiah - 24 

9. Vijayaratnam Student 07 

10. Rejeth - 27 

11. Inthuya Student 06 

12. Vadivelu - 40 

13. Kanageswaran - 20 

14. Eswaran - 21 

15. Navaratnam Inthuya Student 12 

44. Thellipalai temple bombing 30.05.1992 


1. Kandiah Ilayathamby Pensaniar 65 

2. Sinnakuddy Kasipillai Farmer 71 

3. Vaithilingham Vaseegara Painter 23 

4. Selladurai Selvakantharasa - 32 

5. Vellautham Nanthakumar Student 11 

6. Pathmanathan Mayooran Student 22 

7. Iyampillai Mahenthiran Labour 31 

8. Subramaniam Kanagarani Saleswoman 38 

9. Vellautham Vinothakumar Infant 01 

10. Rasathurai Manogaran Cigar Industry 28 

45. Kilali massacre 1992, 1993 


1. N.Rasan Farmer 28 

2. R.Inparasa Cylon Electricity 47 

3. Ratnasingham Aerumin Jasek Inparasa Cylon Electricity 47 

4. Shanmugam Sabanathan - 65 

5. Raveenthiran Indravathana - 41 

6. Gnanasooriar Vinsan Nikkilas - 22 

7. Mathuranayakam Amirthanayagi - 39 

8. T.Poopathy House wife 28 

9. T.Kamalarasan Student 10 

10. K.Kamalthasan Fisherman 17 

11. Sivalingham Sellathurai Courts worker 45 

12. Thatparanathan Mugunthan Student 20 

13. Appukkuddy Paramasingham Driver 38 

14. S.Pakkiarasa Fisherman 30 

15. S.Arulthas Fisherman 21 

16. M.Jesuthasan Student 19 

17. Ratnam Sriranchchan - 29 

18. T.Thanathambal Housewife 42 

19. K.Sivananthan Seller 35 

20. K.Sellathurai - 46 

21. T.Rakini Student 17 

22. Earampamoorthy Asokan - 36 

23. Sinnavan Kathiravelu - 44 

24. N.Parimalam - 37 

25. M.JosephJud Fisherman 18 

26. N.Nagamma - 60 

27. Santhiran Arunananthy Labour 29 

28. Josephs Jesuraja Jesunayakam Thanithas Fisherman 18 



124


29. S.Kanagalingham Fisherman 45 

30. Selvarasa Pakkiarasa - 27 

31. S.Ruban Gnanaseelan Fisherman 19 

32. A.Adaikalam Driver 63 

33. Muththaiya Santhiraleela - 35 

34. S.Palasubramaniam Own worker 54 

35. Murugesu Nadarasa Fisherman 40 

36. Tharmarasa Pakeerathan - - 

37. K.Sinnathamby Farmer 60 

38. K.Eagamparam Farmer 45 

39. Kuppusamy Sellamuthu - 45 

40. N.Rasalingham Seller 32 

41. N.Thurai Farmer 36 

42. N.Kili Farmer 26 

43. R.Jerat Fisherman 26 

44. Thambiiya Ragini - 18 

45. Kathiramalai Jeyanthi Student 25 

46. Ilayathamby Sivaseelan University Student 25 

47. Ilayathamby Mageswary House wife 51 

48. Gnanapiragasam Gnanapalan Boat Sailer 33 

49. Sellathurai Santhalingham Fisherman 50 

50. Mikkel Jesuthasan Student 19 

51. M.Rasaiah Fisherman 23 


1. Kandasamy Mathymayooran Seller 20 

2. Thavarasa Thayalini Student 05 

3. Vinayagamoorthy Inpanathan - 26 

4. V.Inpanathan Fisherman 37 

5. Sinnaiah Santhirakumar - 20 

6. Selvarasa Kunasingham - 40 

7. Selvaratnam Inkaran - 27 

8. K.Kanenthiranathan Manager 63 

9. Kandiah Selladurai - 68 

46. Maaththalan bombing 18.09.1993 


1. Selliah Selvam (Kannan) Student 16 

2. Thambirasa Kunasingham Farmer 18 

3. Piransis Arulthas Fisherman 23 

4. Pelippu Thavarasa Sujaththa Student 10 

5. Mariathas Anton Jeyapalan Fisherman 32 

6. Mariathas Immanuvel Aanantharasa Farmer 19 

7. Danialpillai Pilippu Thavarasa Fisherman 39 

8. Antonipillai Sagayanayagi Housewife 18 

9. Jesumark Antanythas Fisherman 29 

10. Paramanantham - 40 

11. Shangarasivam Surenthiran Student 18 

12. Sinnappu Albons Farmer 22 

13. Mariathas Anton Jesuthas - 30 

14. Thiagarasa Kannan Student 19 

15. Immanuvel Aanantharasa - 19 

16. Sangarasivam Pulenthiran Student 15 

17. Intrigress Josephs - 31 

18. Sujaththa Thileep Mery Student 09 

19. Muththaiah Thuraisingham - 45 

20. Josephs Vinitta KiresPretti House wife 31 



125



1. Kandiah Kumarasamy Farmer 45 

2. Annalingham Sornalingham Fisherman 37 

3. 

47. ChavakachcheriSangaththanai bombing 28.09.1993 


1. Thangarasa Suseela House wife 21 

2. Nageswary Kurunathan - 56 

3. Ratnakobal Sutharshan Student 11 

4. Sinnarasa Pavani Student 21 

5. Selvarasa Sujatha Student 16 

6. Kopalaratnam Subajini Student 15 

7. Jegatheeswaran Shanthini House wife 31 

8. Jegatheeswaran Thashajini Student 11 

9. Jegatheeswaran Thinesh Student 08 

10. Jegatheeswaran Janani Student 07 

11. Sinnarasa Niranjani Student 13 

12. Kopalaratnam Surekka Student 09 

13. Kandiah Selvarasa Mersan 40 

14. Ponnuthurai Gnaneswary - 60 

15. Sinnarasa Pirapalini Student 10 

16. Selliah Maheswary - 52 

17. Kanapathipillai Thangamma - 56 

18. Ratnakopal Thusyenthiran Student 09 

19. Palasuntharam Santhirasegaram Student 09 

20. Palasuntharam Thashayani Infant 02 

21. Kopalapillai Suthasshan Student 09 

22. Palasuntharam Rathy Infant 03 

23. Kaneshan Kowshiga Student 12 

24. Selvarasa Jasotha Student 18 

25. Palasuntharam Suresh Student 12 

26. Sinnarasa Piraba Student 10 

27. Theiventhiran Nagenthiran Student 19 

28. Amuthalingham Lachchamma - 53 

48. Kurunagar church bombing 13.11.1993 


1. Mery Jeyaseeli Thasiyas House wife 50 

2. Anton Anchsala House wife 40 

3. Kuroos Akkines Pensaniar 60 

4. JohnLooththu Seviyar Worker 45 

5. Aarokianathar Silvan Sajeevan Student 18 

6. Anton Puspaleela House wife 41 

7. Mery Sinthuya Mathuranayakam Infant 2 ½ 

8. Singarasa Jujin Kamalitta Student 15 

9. Kabirial Anton Fisherman 48 

10. Akkines Kurusupillai - 80 

11. Mery Vennila Antonipillai Teacher 27 

12. Singarayar Jani Kanoji Student 08 

49. Chundikulam94 massacre 18.02.1994 


1. Jesurasa Alosiyas Santhakumar 22 

2. Aseervatham Vinachsenithy marisaleen - 44 

3. Amirthanayagam John Fernando - 35 

4. Antonypillai Iyakkopillai - 46 

5. Manuvetpillai Mariaseelan - 26 

6. Kariyoppillai Aruljeyaseelan - 25 



126


7. Iyakkopillai Nixshan - 20 

8. Iyakko Mariyelpillai - 29 

50. Navali church massacre 09.07.1995 


1. Varatharasa Krishnakumar Infant 1 ½ 

2. Lookkas Judmohanathas Carpenter 24 

3. Kunaratnam Vithushan Student 07 

4. Kunaratnam Rohini House wife 35 

5. Suvaminathar Sivapathasubramaniam Teacher 50 

6. Saravanamuthu Sivamani Hindu Priest 63 

7. Saravanapavan Parashakthy - 27 

8. Siththirapalu Nageswary Seller 44 

9. Kunaratnam Piranavan Student 05 

10. Sinnaiah Sarasvathy - 62 

11. Jeyaseelan Kanistan Student 17 

12. Siththirapalu Thaneswary Student 17 

13. Siththirapalu Mahenthira Carpenter 25 

14. Siththirapalu Jejapalini Student 14 

15. Siththirapalu Jeyamathy - 27 

16. Sivalingharasa Ranjini Student 11 

17. Sivakumaran Surekka Student 12 

18. Jegasoothy Rathymalar Student 17 

19. Sinnaiah Yogamalar Farmer 39 

20. Kandasamy Thevakulasingham Worker 36 

21. Aanantharasa Yogeswary - 35 

22. Murugesu Selvaratnam Painter 65 

23. Arumugam Kunaratnam Mechnic 40 

24. Maheswaran Thayalan Worker 20 

25. Mahenthiran Mathukaran Student 17 

26. Kamalanathan Saviththiri - 45 

27. Kathiravelu Thurairasa Farmer 55 

28. Kunaratnam Tharshini Student 14 

29. Kanthan Gnanasegaram Student 17 

30. Veerasingham Satkunarasa Fisherman 30 

31. Kaaththan Kanthasamy Toddy Rapper 43 

32. Kanthasamy Ansalathevy - 36 

33. Palasingham Uthayarasa Carpenter 23 

34. Palasingham Sellamma - 33 

35. Pilippillai Kapiriyelpillai Gramasevakar 54 

36. Pararasasingham Selvaratnam Seller 48 

37. Punniyamoorthy Sayanthan Student 09 

38. Kaneshalingham Kamalathevy Account assistant 45 

39. Kandiah Nallaiah Fisherman 55 

40. Sinnathamby Ratnasingham Fisherman 46 

41. Vellautham Lalithathevy - 35 

42. Thavachshelvy Karthigesu Student 12 

43. Soosaithasan Mery sasikala Student 18 

44. Firancis Kinsly Clerk 27 

45. Pathmanathan Palayogini - 40 

46. Pathmanathan Malarvili Student 13 

47. Sakkariyal Jegatheepan Jeevathas Student 17 

48. Pathmakumaran Komathy House wife 28 

49. Selvaratnam Sivasubramaniam - 46 

50. Nallaiah Neelavathy House wife 50 

51. Kanagaratnam Subakaran Student 22 

52. Thangarasa Thatsuthan - 63 

53. Thamotharampillai Inpamalar Student 10 

54. Sivasoothiraja Pirasanna Student 10 

55. Jegasoothy Vimalathevy Seller 42 

56. Nadarasa Kanatheepan Student 05 

57. Kopalakrishnan Piratheepan Student 07 

58. Kanthasamy Thenuga Student 12 



127


59. Thommaipillai Jesuthasan Seller 21 

60. Thevathas Nareskumar Student 11 

61. Sellaiah Rasathurai Fisherman 35 

62. Sellaiah Krishnaruban Fisherman 19 

63. Thevathas Printhini Student 07 

64. Kopalakrishnan Sayanthan Student 09 

65. Veluppillai Nadeswaran Student 19 

66. Kopalakrishnan Kapilrajah Student 07 

67. Mathan Pararasasingham Masan 48 

68. Kopalakrishnan Revathy - 36 

69. Kopalakrishnan Vinoya Infant 05 

70. Ponnar Uthayakumar Fish seller 35 

71. Ponnar Nagamuthu - 75 

72. Kopalakrishnan Mathyvathana - 22 

73. Sinnathurai Nagaratnam - 60 

74. Selvarasa Pirathees - 16 

75. Nesarasa Thavarayani - 28 

76. Sanmuganathan - - 

77. Thampirasa Thuvaragathevy Student 20 

78. Satheeskumar - - 

79. Uthayakumar - - 

80. Kopinath - - 

81. Saththiyanathan - - 

82. Sasikala - - 

83. Yogeswary - - 

84. Uthayakumar Satheeskumar Student 13 

85. Jegatheepan - - 

86. Uthayakumar Ushanthini Student 12 

87. Thurairasa - - 

88. S.Mageswary - - 

89. A.Thanustala Student 08 

90. P.Shanthan - - 

91. N.Murugathas - - 

92. N.Abirami - - 

93. Pusparani - - 

94. Nadarasa Ravi Toddy Rapper 22 

95. Antonipillai kurus Kumuthini Student 18 

96. Mahenthiran Vasanthakumary - 25 

97. Mayarasa Selvanayaki House wife 53 

98. Rasathurai Mageswary - 34 

99. Rasathurai Santhirakanthan Student 13 

100. Rasathurai Sutha Student 09 

101. Ramu Veerasingham Fisheman 43 

102. Ithayashanthini - - 

103. Nadesu Siththirapalu Carpenter 51 

104. Thanaluxsumy - - 

105. Nadesan Vijayakumar Student 18 

106. Neekkilapillai Thiruchselvam Governmen officer 54 

107. Niththiyanantham Annaluxsumy - 57 

108. Nages Kopalakrishnan Fisherman 29 

109. Kanagasabapathy Thavaluxsumy Seller 42 

110. Kanagasingham Narayanasingham Own worker 50 

111. Kanagaratnam Ushananthan Worker 20 

112. Rasaratnam Anantharasa Legithar 34 

113. Kurusamy Mageswary Teacher 54 

114. Thevanayagam Manothiga Student 08 

115. Sellathurai Rasamma - 56 

116. Murugan Sarasu - 69 

117. Kaneshavel Thevakaneshan Student 15 

118. Rasakulasingham Rajahmohan Student 16 

119. Navaratnam Jayatha Student 21 

120. Tharmakulasingham Sujeepa Student 17 

121. T.Kulasingham - - 



128


122. Vaithilingham Jeyasingham Govern.officer 56 

123. Thevanayagam Sailaya Student 13 

124. Vairamuthu Sivarasa Worker 39 

125. S.Kemalatha Gramasevakar 27 

126. S.Piratheepa Student 11 

127. S.Ketheeswaran - - 

128. Mayarasa Aananthapuvanan Student 16 

129. Thavam Paskaran Worker 19 

130. Siththirapalu Pirapakaran Student 21 

131. Kanagaratnam Vasikaran Student 18 

132. Kumarasamy Pathmanathan Farmer 24 

133. Thambipillai Thiyagarasa Cigar Industry 54 

134. T.Pusparani - - 

135. N.Vasanthamalar - - 

136. S.Thavarani - - 

137. Arumugam Kanagalingham Student 40 

138. Immanuvel Dusintha Student 14 

139. Velu Ramalingham Worker 22 

140. Subbaiah Thevanayagam Worker 47 

141. Sriskantharasa Kopigan Student 13 

142. Thevanayagam Thavapalasarasvathy - 45 

143. Nagalingham Saravanamuthu Farmer 60 

144. Nadarasa Sinnathurai Farmer 65 

145. Jevarajah Piratheepan Student 13 

146. Arumugam Kanagalingham Seller 40 

147. Ravichsanthiran Thanushiya Student 08 

148. Murugesu Ponnampalam Carpenter 47 

149. Thevanayagam Lavanya Student 11 

150. Vanniyasingham - - 

151. Gnanaluxsumypalan Seevaratnam Worker 47 


1. Thurairasa Navaratnarasa Student 17 

2. S.Nageswary House wife 65 

3. Nesarasa Arththy Infant 05 Months 

4. S.Piratheepa Student 26 

5. S.Thiruchchelvy Student 12 

6. K.Uthayapriya Student 19 

7. T.Rajitha Student 08 

8. T.Jeyarani - 38 

9. Anton Ranjan Student 19 

10. A.Jeyakumar Principal 45 

11. S.Sivamalar House wife 33 

12. N.Kayilainathan Driver 46 

13. A.Loorthurmery House wife 45 

14. S.Thevamalar House wife 16 

15. A.Arockiyam House wife 59 

16. Arasaratnam Kumuthiny Student 16 

17. Pulenthiran Jeyakaran Student 15 

18. Palachchanthiran Mageswary House wife 35 

19. S.Arudchelvy House wife 26 

20. Mylvaganam Sasikaran Student 17 

21. Markandu Perinpakumar Student 19 

22. Markandu Kanthasamy Fisherman 45 

23. karthigesu Babyshalini Student 08 

24. Karthigesu Sivayogarasa Pushpam House wife 44 

25. Kanthasamy Samini House wife 29 

26. Kanthasamy Amuthan Student 16 

27. K.Powlin Carpenter 51 

28. M.Shanthy House wife 30 

29. S.Suthakaran Student 17 

30. K.Thuvarasa Fisherman 38 



129


31. S.Murugananthan Student 15 

32. S.Samiththira Student 13 

33. S.Vasanthy Student 14 

34. S.Jonyshangar Student 18 

35. Thangarasa Kowsala Infant 02 

36. M.Kiladis Nirmala Student 26 

37. Vijayakumar Puvaneswary House wife 18 

38. Penadit Ranjinithevy House wife 20 

39. S.Sivaseelan Student 14 

40. T.Hentry Jeyakar Worker 18 

41. Thavarasa Thevakumary House wife 45 

42. Thavarasa Srikaran House wife 36 

43. Arasaratnam Malligathevy House wife 46 

44. Menaga Student 14 

45. Nageswary House wife 49 

46. S.Mahathevy Student 15 

47. P.Thayalini Student 09 

48. K.Ratnathevy House wife 19 

49. S.Nageswary House wife 46 

50. K.Tharmajeyan Worker 27 

51. K.Rakulan Student 12 

52. A.Arulseeli Student 19 

53. S.Thangapaddu House wife 19 

54. V.Sivayoganathan Farmer 44 

55. Kanthamoorthy Rajani Student 07 

56. A.Jeyaveerasingham Worker 32 

57. Kanthamoorthy Jamuna Student 12 

58. P.Sivaruban Student 16 

59. Kanthamoorty Sellamma House wife 35 

60. A.Murugathas Worker 30 

61. K.Ranjini Student 09 

51. Nagarkovil bombing 22.09.1995 


1. Navamani Mithura Student 14 

2. Markandu Nagaloosini Student 10 

3. Palachsanthiran Rejitha Student 10 

4. Pologarasa Thusyanthy Student 13 

5. Kugasaravanamalai Tharshini Student 13 

6. Navaratnasamy Umathevy Studemt 12 

7. U.Tharshini Student 12 

8. Sithamparapillai Sasiruby Student 11 

9. Anton Mariamanogarathas Mariyarajith Student 09 

10. Tharmalingham Ushananthini Student 14 

11. Ramachchanthiran Sangeetha Student 14 

12. Rasaratnam Umakanthan Student 16 

13. Selvakulasingham Selvathy Student 17 

14. Selvam Student 16 

15. Antony Mariaros Antonythas Student 08 

16. Ragavan Student 16 

17. T.Samiththa Student 10 

18. Mahalingham Shanmugavadivel Student 16 

19. Mylvaganam Kananathan Student 13 

20. Nagamuthu Senthilvel Student 15 

21. Thambipillai Kopithan Student - 

22. Krishnakopal Thavaseelan Student 13 

23. Raveenthirarasa Amirtha Student 10 

24. Thamotharampillai Saguntha Student 12 

25. Albons Amalaviji Student 14 

26. Rasaratnam Kavitha Student 10 

27. Johnposko Karmilara - 04 



130


28. Ramanathan Methini Student 13 


1. Akkines Thiresha Akilathas Student 06 

2. A.Romiyo Student 10 

3. Akkines Thiresha Kalimand Fisherman 12 

4. Arumailingham Thadshajini Student 13 

5. Thangavellautham Renugajini Student 12 

6. S.Niroshini Student 09 

7. S.Saratha House wife 45 

52. Nachchikuda strafing 16.03.1996 


1. Kandaiah Rameshwaran Student 18 

2. Kanagasingham Tharsini Student 10 

3. Anton Jegatheepa Student 12 

4. Soosaipillai Albert Fisherman 50 

5. Albons Amalotpavarani House wife 22 

6. Mahenthiran Jalini Student 18 

7. Thavari Veelaji - 68 

8. Julias Devin Infant 01 

9. Kandasamy Senthilkumar Student 16 

10. Victor Loosiya - 24 

11. Arulanantham Seviar Visittamma House wife 55 

12. Mariathas Edvin Fisherman 30 

13. Seviar Konsala Student 14 

14. Mery Amlini Student 18 

15. Ponnampalam Selvarasa Fisherman 68 

16. Aasaipillai Albons Fisherman 50 

17. Marianayagam Thiresamma - - 

18. Kuvaddasges Sinrasan - - 

19. Anton Dayaska - - 

20. Marianayagam Thiresamma - - 


1. Arulseelan Tharmajothy - - 

2. Arulseelan Arulmery Infant 04 

3. Antonic Kuyinston Junitha Student 16 

4. Puspajini Student 08 

5. Soosaipiraba Infant 02 

6. Mathyjeni Infant 04 

7. Sebamalai - 65 

8. Pavani - 20 

9. Parimalam - 44 

10. Anusiya Marianitta - 20 

11. Juth - 90 

12. Vimalathas - 26 

13. Saranja - - 

14. Valarmathy - 30 

15. Pathmasiri - 25 

16. Mahinthan Student 07 

17. Rasamalar - 17 

18. Junittu Student 16 

19. Manotha - 16 

20. Konspenal - 32 

21. Iruthayaseelan - 34 

22. Nagarani - 62 

23. Ponnampalam - 43 

24. Kanthasamy - 52 

25. Sutharsan - 21 



131


26. Imiron - - 

27. Selvanithy - - 

28. Sarirega - - 

29. Manokaran Student 15 

30. Anton - 34 

31. Kanagamma - 65 

32. Mathyyogarasa - 25 

33. Tharmarasa - 22 

34. Meryreetmaria - 28 

35. Nachchiyamma - 40 

36. Selvarani - 25 

37. Emilda Infant 04 

38. Anista Student 06 

39. Aananthy - 23 

40. Pattic - 62 

41. Seviyar - 30 

42. Rasamma - 30 

43. Elda Student 14 

44. Mery Konsala - 18 

45. Arulammery - - 

46. Aravinthan Student 07 

47. Chitta - 34 

48. Thevarasa - 45 

49. Dan - 23 

50. Subbaiah - 76 

51. Konsiya Infant 04 

52. Mery Singarasa - 30 

53. Thiresamma - 65 

54. Selvanayagi - 31 

55. Anton - 34 

56. Rajkumar Student 14 

57. Amutharasu Student 10 

58. Annaimery - 37 

59. Masiltha - 24 

60. Tharmarasa - 22 

61. Rasupalan - 18 

53. Thambirai market bombing 17.05.1996 


1. Sinnathurai Ketheeswaran Farmer 29 

2. Kandiah Thevarasa Farmer - 

3. Thangavelu Ravichsanthiran Toddy Rapper 34 

4. Soosaipillai Fransis Toddy Rapper - 

5. Veerakaththy Alistin Fisherman 28 

6. Appuththurai Sowntharanayagam Toddy Rapper 35 

7. Ratnam Palachchanthiran Farmer 29 


1. Thuraisamy Worker 75 

2. Ponnampalam - - 

3. Sellaiah Pooranam Worker 60 

4. Santhirapalu Eswaran Manager 24 

54. Mallavi bombing 24.07.1996 


1. Sivalingham Sinthuja Infant 02 

2. Ramu Pakkiyanathan Farmer 21 

3. Thiyagarasa Premathas Farmer 28 

4. Kathiravelu Janagarajah Farmer 21 

5. Visuvalingham Sellamma House wife 64 



132


6. Sinnapoodi Kathiravelu Worker 59 

7. Subramaniam Manivel Worker 20 

8. Sivalingham Santhiya Infant 02 

9. Savarimuthu Palakumar Farmer 56 

10. Savarimuthu Palakumaran Farmer 55 


1. Sinnaiah Sivanesan - 21 

2. Palakumar Jasintha - 26 

3. Rasaiah Karthigayan - 63 

4. Sinnathurai Saseenthira - 20 

5. Thesingu Karunanithy - 40 

6. Sivapatham Suganja - 22 

7. Thiyagarasa Niroshan - 11 

8. Sinnathurai Niuman - 20 

9. Ilayathamby Varappiragasam - 75 

10. Karuththan Velautham - 45 

11. Kandiah Velautham - 62 

12. Palakumar Jasintha - 26 

13. Sinnappu Suntharam - 72 

14. Palarasa - - 

15. Suntharalingham Rasitha - 22 

16. S.Kanapathipillai - 50 

55. Pannankandy massacre 05.07.1997 


1. Seenivasagam Panneerselvam Worker 37 

2. Perumal Sasikumar Worker 38 

56. Kaithady Krishanthi massacre 07.09.1996 


1. Kumarasamy Rasamma Wise Principal 59 

2. Kumarasamy Krishanthy Student 18 

3. Sumarasamy Piranavan Student 16 

4. Sithamparam Kirupamoorthy Clerk 38 

57. Vavunikulam massacre 26091996, 15081997 


1. Seenithamby Vadivelu Farmer 51 

2. Periyathamby Sinnarasa Farmer 67 

3. Sinnarasa Puspamala Student 20 

4. Valliar Sinnathamby Worker 55 

5. Santhirasegaram Rajeswary - 32 

6. Ratnasamy Sivagnanasuntharam Pensainar 69 

7. Palaniyandi Marimuthu Student 18 

8. Ratnam Rasakumari House wife 24 

9. Kunaratnam Shanmugarasa Worker 23 

10. Arulanantham Vimalanantham Own worker 30 

11. Thesingarasa Thangamany - 48 

12. Thesingarasa Vasanthakumary Student 17 

13. Nadarasa Pushpamalar - 41 

14. Nadarasa Kajan - 04 

15. Annamalar - 40 

16. Thurairatnam Parameswary - 46 

17. Navaratnam Santhy Housewife 21 



133



1. Sunil - 60 

2. Sinnarasa Ketheeswaran - 16 

3. Sinnarasa Ravimala Student 12 

4. Sivagnanasuntharam Jasesan - 22 

5. Tharmalingham - 06 

6. Sunil Jeissan - 22 

7. Sunil Kili - 24 

8. Nadarasa Pooranam - 52 

9. Nadarasa Pirabu - 24 

10. Ambigavathy Inthumathy Student 14 

11. Ambigavathy Kangaiyamaran Student 11 

12. Sinnarasa Vasanthamala - 24 

13. S.Nagapoorani - 32 

14. Ponnuthurai Suresh - 27 

15. S.Yogamohan - 18 

16. Jeyachchandran Student 15 

17. R.Panchchali - 32 

18. J.Mathushan Infant 02 

19. M.Rasamalar - 55 

20. Kowri - 22 

21. Nagashanthy Student 13 

22. V.Thayani - 18 

23. V.Tharmina Student 09 

24. S.Vijayarasa - 16 

25. S.Santhanam - 59 

26. S.Selvarani - 22 

27. S.Srithari Infant 03 

28. S.Kanikkairasa - 38 

58. Konavil bombing 27.09.1996 


1. Rasathurai Thirukumar Worker 20 

2. Kandiah Vijayakumary Teacher 31 

3. Muththusamy Vaikunthavasan Worker 39 

4. Periyasamy Velu Worker 61 

5. Sivanandi Jenakanth Student 15 

6. Ponnaiah Jeyanathan Student 16 

59. Mullivaikal bombing 13.05.1997 


1. Arumugam Sivasmahenthiram Fisherman 38 

2. Nagarasa Thavaratnarasa Farmer 24 

3. Sinnaiah Arumugam Fisherman 68 

4. Ponnampalam Pakkiarasa Fisherman 60 

5. Subramaniam Ajanthan Fisherman 15 

6. Sivakuru Mahenthiran Fisherman 39 

7. Sivakaran Thuthikaran Fisherman 18 

8. Malli - 42 

9. Ramasingham Rasaiah Fisherman 73 


1. Raveenthiran - 28 

2. S.Koneswaran - 33 

3. A.Suthan - 20 

4. Kathirkamu Singham - 25 

5. Kanapathipillai Nagalingham - 48 

6. Selvanathan Sripathmanathan - 31 

7. K.Kaneshalingham - 37 



134


8. J.Ravikumar - - 

60. Mankulam shelling 08.06.1997 


1. K.Iyasamypillai Educater 33 

2. Kanthasamy - - 

3. J.Samyppillai - - 

4. A.Palachchanthiran - 40 

5. Jeyapalasingham Jeyarajah Fisherman 20 

6. Malliga - - 

7. Kaneshamoorthy Thayanithy - 32 


1. Kanthasamy Selvarasa - 36 

2. Sugumar Vinotheepan Student 14 

3. Kugarasa Jasitha Student 13 

4. Kanthasamy Sellar - 32 

5. Nallathamby Sebamalai - 66 

6. Manikkam Saravanamuthu - 34 

7. Sarasu Pathmalingham - 21 

8. Palasubramaniam Jeyakumar - 21 

9. Kanthasamy Selvarasa - 36 

10. Thirugnanam Manokaran - 24 

11. Murugu Rasathurai - 63 

12. Iyathurai Parameswaran - 56 

13. Seviyar Manoranjitham - 36 

14. Seviyar Vathsala Student 05 

15. Sebamalai Rejina - 66 

61. Thampalakamam98 massacre 01.02.1998 


1. Arumugam Segar Farmer - 

2. Amirthalingham Surenthiran Student 14 

3. Amirthalingham Kajenthiran Worker 18 

4. Ponnampalam Kanagasabai Farmer - 

5. Murugesu Janagan Student 17 

6. Nathan Pavalanathan Worker 45 

7. Subramaniam Thivakaran - - 

8. Kunaratnam Sivarajan - - 

62. Old Vaddakachchi bombing 26.03.1998 


1. Sanmugam Thanapalu Worker 55 

2. Thiyagarasa Palu Worker 50 

3. Ramanathan Sellamma House wife 56 

4. Vellautham Mangayatkarasi Student 20 

5. Muththaiah Vasanthakumary House wife 26 

6. Krishnasamy Valliyammai House wife 65 


1. Veeraiya Selvarasa - 40 

2. Kathirgamu Baby - - 

3. Ramanathan Thevagi - 23 

4. Panchchalingham Bamini Government officer 32 

5. Vellautham Sivakumar Government officer 26 



135


63. Suthanthirapuram massacre 10.06.1998 


1. Richart Seronconsenter - 26 

2. Vallipuram Ranimalar House wife 27 

3. Vigneswaran Nesarani - 40 

4. Vinayagamoorthy Thevakaran Private worker 22 

5. Sithamparapillai Kumaravel - 48 

6. Sinnathurai Suthakaran Private worker 20 

7. Sinnathurai - - 

8. Sanackuddy Yogapalasingha Private worker 27 

9. Chartseron Konsedda House wife 26 

10. Vellaiyappan Subbaiah Farmer 57 

11. Selvarasa Sritharan House wife 21 

12. Sebastiyampillai Jeyaratnam Student 21 

13. Ponnan Sureshkumar - - 

14. Jeban - - 

15. Atputham Jegan - 23 

16. Atputham Jegan - 23 

17. Aseervatham Parthima Student 17 

18. Amirthalingham Sutha - - 

19. Muthuvel Gnanasegaram - 59 

20. Muththuththamby Vasanthakumary - 19 

21. Manuval Thevathas - 45 

22. Palanivel Thiruchchelvy Student 18 

23. Puspanathan Rameskumar Student 13 

24. Puspanathan Saththiyaseelan Student 08 

25. Puspanathan Thevananthiny Infant 02 

26. Puspanathan Kalaichchelvy Infant 05 

27. Puspanathan Sathees - 25 

28. Kandiah Kunasegaram - 24 

29. Navarasa Krishnamoorthy Worker 25 

30. Navackumar Kokila - 30 

31. Ratnasingham Ranimalar - 28 

32. Rasalingham Uthayakumar Worker 39 

33. Ramu Ratnalingham Worker 26 

34. Rajakopalan Ravichchandran Farmer 28 


1. Sownthararajan Sasikaran Student 16 

2. Jesunayagam Silvesdar Labour 26 

3. Kathirvelu Nagathevan Farmer 34 

4. Selvanayagam Santhakumary Own worker 20 

5. Kandiah Subramaniam Farmer 22 

6. Kristi Vadsala - 28 

7. Ranjan Malarvili - - 

8. Ranjan Vinson Infant 05 

9. Vaiyapuri Luxsumy - 63 

10. Sellathurai Satkunanathan - 41 

11. Kanesh Regan - 24 

12. Ponnan Palaniyandi Own work 60 

13. Thiyagarasa Santhiralingham - 42 

14. Muththulingham Patmarasa - 22 

15. Kanesh Malini - 34 

16. A.Vijayakumar Student 14 

17. Vijayakumar Deisirani - 33 

18. K.Tharani - 21 

19. Muththukaruppan Kathirgamathamby - 65 

20. Iyampillai Selvan - 26 

21. Sivanathan Rukkumanithevy House wife 23 

22. Arumugam Meenampigai - 28 

23. Sivarasa Gnanasogaralingham - 40 



136


24. Sornaluxsumy - 18 

25. Solanathan Inthirakumar - 23 

26. Palu Manickam - 64 

27. Sellaththamby Kumaresan - 30 

28. Sivagnam Jeyachchanthiran Student 15 

29. Ponnuththurai Ravichchandran - 29 

30. Pusparasa Suthan - 20 

31. Krishnan Ravickumar Labour 26 

32. Ramalinghamsarma Hindu priest 48 

33. Nayinamugamathu Mugamathunavum - 31 

34. P.Jeyaratnam - 21 

35. Narayanan Saththiyaseelan Worker 18 

36. Sockgalingham Subbamma House wife 60 

37. Appuppillai Karuppaiah Farmer 65 

38. Appuppillai Sinnackaruppan Farmer 65 

39. Antonypillai Sivakumar Student 07 

40. Srikumar Mathyvathana Student 14 

41. Kathiresu Jebaneswaran - 18 

42. K.Malini - - 

43. V.Luxsumy - 63 

44. K.Vaxsala - 28 

45. Pirashanthini Student 15 

46. S.Sagunthala - 26 

47. Kumaranayagam Meganathan Own worker 24 

48. K.Jeevananthiny - 21 

49. Nisham - 30 

50. Santhiralingham - 42 

51. Kovinthan - 56 

52. Komaluxsumy - 18 

53. Sivaneshan - 18 

54. Jeyachchandran Student 15 

55. Pathmarasa - 21 

56. Jeyakanthan - 20 

57. I.Selvam - 27 

58. Manickam - 64 

59. Kumaresan - 30 

60. Suvinthiran - 21 

61. Nathan - 38 

62. P.Seelan - 17 

63. Sutharshan - 25 

64. Sinnackaruppaiah - 62 

64. Visuvamadhu shelling 25.11.1998 


1. Sivaranjini Student 15 

2. Krishanpillai Tharmaratnam - 32 

3. Jeyaratnam Vino Infant 03 

4. Murugaiah Piragas Student 12 

5. Yoganathan Agilanathan Student 17 

6. Rasan Vasanthakumar House wife 27 


1. Luxsumy - 52 

2. Sarasvathy - 41 

3. Sithamparanathan Sivananthan - 25 

4. Sithamparanathan Manimegalai - 59 

5. Selvarasa Rasamma House wife 40 

6. Perumal Santhakumar Worker 16 

7. Kovinthasamy - 38 

8. Kovinthasamy Mageswary - 38 

9. Krishanan Kunaratnam - 40 

10. Ramaiya Sivanamma - 53 



137


65. Palinagar bombing and shelling 10.06.1998 


1. Perumal Sureshkumar Student 18 

2. Veeraiya Thurairasa - 55 

3. Thamotharampillai Krishnaraja - 60 

4. Vaithilingham Suthakar - 17 

5. Krishnaraja Jeyaseelan - - 

6. Kumaravelu Punniyalingham - 41 

66. Manthuvil bombing 15.09.1999 


1. Sinnaiah Jeyapalasingham - 37 

2. Shanmugam Kirupakaran Worker 22 

3. Saviri John Farmer 52 

4. Sangarapillai Selvamanikkam - 70 

5. Gnanasegaram Laxsumipillai House wife 43 

6. Jeyaraman Santhirakumar Private worker 20 

7. Alanros Kondusiyas Fisherman 19 

8. Antonipillai Sepamalaimuthu Private worker 45 

9. Arumugam Jeyaraman - 50 

10. Sinnaiah Jeyapalasingham Farmer 37 

11. Packianathan Rettamma House wife 56 

12. Thanarajah Jenovi House wife 24 

13. Vethanayagam Sebasthiyampillai Fisherman 52 

14. Thuraisingham Sabanayagam Student 21 

15. Rasanayagam Uthayakumar Fisherman 20 

16. Rasenthiram Saththiyakumar Private worker 25 

17. Kunasingham Jeyachsanthiran Own worker 33 

18. Kanapathipillai Saththiyapama Worker 25 

19. Kanagasabai Mithila House wife 26 

20. Antonylaliyo Krists Pulorans House wife 54 

21. Sellaiah Arumugam - 59 

22. Kanapathipillai Yogarasa - 36 

23. Antony Thavarasa Thiresamma - 50 

24. Antonyliyo Melrose - 24 

25. Anotnyloyo Kristilla Pulorance - 54 

26. Sinnaththamby Thambu - 55 

27. Jeyamas Jeyashangar - 33 

28. Pathmarasa Jenitta Student 15 

29. Santhirasegaram Sayanthini Student 12 

30. Thambaiah Subramaniam Farmer 67 


1. Palasingham Palrajah Own worker 29 

2. Sellaiah Santhirasegaram Own worker 27 

3. Sivasubramaniam Kamsananthiny House wife 21 

4. Sivanesan Alageswary House wife 29 

5. N.Arunthavamalar - 52 

6. T.Tharshini Student 17 

7. Susitharan Sooddy - 29 

8. P.Mariyamalar - 52 

9. K.Menaga Student 18 

10. Sethuppillai - 80 

11. K.Annaluxsumy - 61 

12. S.Mariyamma - 68 

13. R.Thaneswary - 55 

14. Thiyagarasa Selvarani - 44 

15. T.Palasingham - 66 

16. R.Mageswary - 55 



138


17. Jeyaraman - 60 

18. K.Thankaiya - 48 

19. Sarasvathy - 50 

20. Jeyashangar Vimalrajah Student 06 

21. Sivakumar Sooriyamoorthy Fisherman 33 

22. Alanrose Mariyanayagi - 40 

23. A.Vithushan - 35 

24. Pathmaraja Mathiyamalar Worker 40 

25. K.Thavaseelan - 19 

26. P.Vallipillai - 90 

27. A.Eruthayarasa - 20 

28. Sivanantham Suthakaran - 19 

29. Anton Penadit - 51 

30. A.Mariasobana - 23 

31. S.Sharmila - 23 

32. T.Thanusha Infant 03 

33. Periathamby Nadarasa Fisherman 51 

34. Kanagaiah - 43 

35. Peter kentrylol Loransiya - 18 

36. Seeniar Sivanathan - 18 

37. Satkunan Yogarani - 41 

38. Thiyagarasa Tharshini Student 17 

39. Sailan Infant 03 

40. Kopalakrishnan Pathmavathy - 45 

41. J.Sarasvathy - 50 

42. Raja Sajeevan Infant 03 

43. Nagalingham - 45 

44. Muththusamy - 48 

45. Mariyanayagam - 48 

46. Anton Penadit - 59 

47. T.Thevarasa - 39 

48. M.Thanarajah - 20 

49. T.Mariyamalar - 68 

50. Kandiah Vallippillai - 70 

51. Mylvaganam - 45 

52. J.Jeyashangar - 30 

53. Kunasingham - 50 

54. Muththusamy Kolimanasamy - 48 

55. S.Yogarani - 41 

56. S.Logitha - 15 

57. John Nanshi - 19 

58. Palrajah Pasamalar - 27 

59. Kandaiya Nagalingham - 35 

60. Sinnathamby Kandasamy - 37 

61. Kathiresu Thevarasa - 39 

62. Mahalingham Thanaraja - 29 

63. Sellathurai Mageswary - 46 

64. S.Pethurupillai - 80 

65. Fernando - 35 

66. Krishnapillai Annaluxsumy - 51 

67. Kunaratnam Niranyan Student 09 

67. Madhu church massacre 20.11.1999 


1. Nikkalasjud Jalini Teacher 25 

2. Sooriyakumar Suganthan Farmer 22 

3. Inthiramohan Thadshajini Student 13 

4. Kalithasan Selvakumary House wife 22 

5. Kiresu Selvarasa Farmer 39 

6. Kunaveerasingham House wife 22 

7. Kunaveerasingham Suganja - 09 

8. Tharmalingham Tharmaneethan Student 10 

9. Tharmalingham Shanthakeethan Infant 04 



139


10. Thisaiveerasingham Mathyrajah Infant 03 

11. Muniyandi Uthayakumar Farmer 22 

12. Muniyandi Selvam House wife 55 

13. Selvarasa Nirajah Student 09 

14. Selvarasa Rathan Student 12 

15. Veluppillai Tharmalingham - 44 

16. Santhiramohan Papitharan Student 06 

17. Santhiramohan Sujitharan Student 09 

18. Santhiramohan Suthakaran Student 09 

19. Santhiramohan Poomani House wife 61 

20. Sivanantham Suganthini House wife 22 

21. Sripaskaran Mainthini Infant 03 

22. Egamparam Rameswary House wife 52 

23. Variththamby Pavani Student 17 

24. Sathasivam Mannan - 21 

25. Sooriyakumar Suganthy House wife 23 

26. Navaratnam Rajeswary House wife 58 

27. Kanagaratnam Variththamby Farmer 54 

28. Karunairasa Kapaskar Student 15 

29. Karunairasa Theivanai House wife 49 

30. Kunaveerasingham Logeswary Student 10 

31. Kunaveerasingham Suveniya Student 20 

32. Thampappillai Thesaiveerasingham Farmer 46 

33. Thesaiveerasingham Mathyrajah Infant 03 

34. Thesaiveerasingham Ampigavathy House wife 37 

35. Muthiah Sivanantham Farmer 26 

36. Jeyaram Jeyaseelan Student 18 


1. Sooriyakumar Selvarani House wife 43 

2. Ramalingham Inthirani - 17 

3. Krishri Ranjini - 36 

4. Kanagaratnam Kumuthiny Student 13 

5. Popalasingham Muhilan Student 09 

6. Popalasingham Muththupillai House wife 40 

7. Ketheswaran Dinoshan Infant 03 

8. Mohan Pajanan Student 09 

9. Sellathurai Sivarasa Farmer 38 

10. Santhirasegaram Amarasingham - 35 

11. Sivamalar - 28 

12. Sivarasa Malligathevy House wife 35 

13. Sivarasa Varamsavally Student 10 

14. Sellathurai Rathakrishanan - 36 

15. S.Sathananthan Student 13 

16. Ramasamy Ketheswaran - 24 

17. Ketheswaran Jeyanthimalar - 29 

18. Ravi - - 

19. Valluvan - - 

20. Sritharan - - 

21. Egamparam Sivarajah - - 

22. Kathiravelu Sooriyakumar - - 

23. Yogarasa Pageerathan - - 

24. Yogarasa Nagenthiran - - 

25. Sathanantham - - 

26. Uthayaseelan - - 

27. Palasuntharam - - 

28. Kanthasamy - - 

29. Karthic Sivapathamalar - - 

30. Karthic Saththiya - - 

31. Karthic Kumaran - - 

32. Sripaskaran Kowsalya - - 

33. Sripaskaran Sayantha - - 



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34. Sripaskaran Shangeetha - - 

35. Thiruckumaran - - 

36. Paviththira - - 

37. Thanushan - - 

38. Eswary - - 

39. Sugi - - 

40. Ampiga - - 

41. Saththiyavani - - 

42. Parameswary - - 

43. Nishanthan - - 

44. Suganthini - - 

45. Sivashakthy - - 

46. Sinthuya - - 

47. Tharmalingham Kamalthevy - 33 

48. Tharmalingham Uthayageetha Student 11 

49. Tharmalingham Kumuthageethan Student 06 

50. Ratnam Navaratnarasa - 46 

51. Navaratnarasa Manoranjitham - 43 

52. Navaratnarasa Agatheeswary - 19 

53. Navaratnarasa Santhirakanthan Student 11 

54. Navaratnarasa Thayalini Infant 04 

55. Navaratnarasa Thushyanthini Infant 03 

56. Ratnam Thaneswaran - 29 

57. Ratnam Rangamma - 55 

58. Ratnam Vijayalixsumy - 17 

59. Alagan Selvam - 43 

60. Selvam Kajan Infant 04 

61. Ilayathamby Uruckumani - - 

62. Ramalingham Thanaluxsumy - 52 

63. Kumarasamy Ketheeswaran Farmer 26 

64. Thayanithy Student 10 

65. John Thivakaran Student 13 

66. Kokulasarathy - 59 

67. Perumal Ravi - - 

68. Sarojini - 32 

69. Sivapathasuntharam Kamalanayagi House wife 38 

70. Sripaskaran - 29 

71. Sripalsuntharam - 50 

72. F.Uthayasutha Student 12 

68. Mirusuvil massacre 19.12.2000 


1. Sinnaiah Vilvarasa Farmer 41 

2. Sellathurai Theivakulasingham Farmer 21 

3. Vilvarasa Pirasath Student 05 

4. Vilvarasa Piratheepan Student 15 



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