Top Tiger is cremated, India seeks certificate

The Sri Lankan military cremated LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and his senior lieutenants on Wednesday at the same place where their bodies were found by the Army — at a lagoon in the battle zone — the previous day.

“We cremated his body yesterday in the same place. All the other LTTE leaders who were killed along with him were also cremated there at the same time,” the military spokesman, Brig.Udaya Nanayakkara, told this newspaper here.

Asked if the Tiger chief’s remains were subjected to a DNA test to establish his identity beyond doubt, he said, “Our doctors may have taken some blood samples, but we feel there is no need for any DNA testing because there is absolutely no doubt it’s him.”

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Siliguri turns into warzone, Army on call

Siliguri became a war zone on Thursday as mobs of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters and local residents fought pitched battles, as tension spread in the Darjeeling hill district.

The rioting forced West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in Kolkata to seek Army deployment, but with the situation improving later in the day the Army was asked to remain on standby. “I had a talk with Army officials and asked them to stay alert,” he said.

Flag marches were, however, held by paramilitary jawans, and in response to the state’s request New Delhi ordered the dispatch of 10 more companies — almost 1,000 men — of the CRPF, BSF and SSB. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC were imposed in Siliguri subdivision.

Rattled by the worsening crisis in the Darjeeling hills, the CM has called an allparty meeting on June 17 to find a political solution. “I request all people, in the hills and the plains, to maintain peace and amity,” he said. After the GJM sus pended its “indefinite” bandh in the hills for 60 hours, ostensibly to allow tourists to leave the area safely, some outfits like the Jan Chetna Morcha, Amra Bangali and Bangla Bhasa Bachao Samiti called a 48 hour bandh in the plains.

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