The government should taken responsibility for the shooting incident in Katuwana, the JVP said today demanding immediate steps to arrest and take legal action against the individuals accused of being involved in the incident.

The government has eradicated underworld groups against it and established monopoly within the underworld, charged JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva claiming that only an underworld controlled by the government currently exists.

The underworld is being “used” by the ruling government for political purposes, he said.

A similar group is roaming the Katuwana area, frightening the public and it was this group that opened fire at the JVP rally yesterday (16), which resulted in the death of two persons, Silva accused.

He vowed that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) would launch a series of protest, across the Island and internationally, against this “crime wave” and that a mass protest will be held in Colombo on june 19.

Two persons including a female were killed and another injured after a group of individuals on motorbikes had opened fire at a JVP rally last evening at Katuwana in Hambantota.

While the Marxist party accuses the government of having a hand in the incident, the Media Center for National Security (MCNS) yesterday said “an internal dispute among two JVP groups” is suspected to be cause.

Police and military operations are being carried out in order to apprehend the suspect responsible for the shooting, Director General of MCNS Laxman Hulugalla said.

Responding to this Tilvin Silva, at a press briefing today (16), alleged the government laying the blame on other parties by issuing statements.

Instead of bringing the persons responsible for the deaths before justice, the government is reducing the incident to internal conflict in the JVP in an attempt to free the true murderers, he charged explaining that this is more grievous that the murder itself.

“The government placing the blame on the Frontline Socials Party in order to save face, is nothing but a joke,” he said. The Frontline Socials Party (FSP) is the party recently formed by a breakaway faction of the JVP.

If the government is portraying this incident as an internal dispute, then it must reveal the individuals responsible for it, Tilvin Silva demanded accusing the government of attempting to mislead the people’s opinion without doing so.

Shooters are residents of Katuwana

The General Secretary further asserted that so far no arrests have been made and that only statements have been recorded. Police said today that statements were recorded from around 20 persons and that an extensive investigation is underway over the incident.

Silva, however alleged, the individuals that had opened fire were actually residents of Katuwana and that they were identified by the people who had attended the rally. This information was passed onto the police by them, he added.