October 30: A night curfew was eased in central Sri Lanka Monday as heavily armed soldiers patrolled the streets to prevent further rioting, officials said.At least one man was killed when police opened fire Sunday at rampaging mobs in the Talawakele area in the tea-growing Nuwara Eliya district where public transport, state buildings and private shops were damaged.Police said the night curfew was eased Monday, but the military was maintaining a strong presence to deter any troublemakers. The riots started during the funeral Sunday of a Tamil inmate who was killed in a prison massacre.Mobs of the majority Sinhalese community had slaughtered some 26 minority Tamil detainees at an open prison in the central town of Bandarawela on Wednesday.Police said a local Tamil politician who represents the Tamils of recent Indian origin was taken in for questioning early Monday in connection with the unrest in the central region.Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake held an emergency meeting with top military commanders Sunday, urging them to bring the situation under control in the Nuwara Eliya district. Government officials said the authorities had taken a series of measures, including sending additional troops to the area, to quell the unrest and restore law and order.The defence ministry also ordered the suspension of 16 police constables who were responsible for providing protection to the open prison while investigations were under way to identify those responsible for security lapses.In the northern town of Vavuniya, shops and offices remained closed Monday as a sign of protest against the prison massacre, local residents said. The authorities were also grappling with fears that the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will try to avenge Wednesday's massacre of 26 Tamil inmates at Bandarawela."It is possible that the Tigers could try to attack a Sinhalese village in the northeast to avenge the killings at Bandarawela," a senior police officer here said.The LTTE said they believed security forces were involved in organising gangs from the Sinhalese community to launch Wednesday's attack." The victims of this savagery are not members of the LTTE nor are they surrendered child soldiers," the LTTE said in a statement sent here from their London office."They are innocent Tamil youths arrested on suspicion and detained without trial under the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act. These young detainees have been protesting against their unjust arrest and demanding release."Officials said there could be a repeat of the violence seen last year after the air force bombed and killed 21 Tamil civilians in the north-eastern Mullaitivu district on September 15. The air force said it was an accident.Four days later, suspected Tamil Tiger rebels massacred 54 Sinhalese villagers in a revenge attack in Ampara district." There could be a re-run of that situation and this means the military will have to step up security for villages that are threatened," a police spokesman said.
