{"id":23592,"date":"2013-08-02T19:05:10","date_gmt":"2013-08-02T23:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=23592"},"modified":"2013-08-02T21:35:52","modified_gmt":"2013-08-03T01:35:52","slug":"mini-war-in-weliweriya-a-needless-confrontationcaused-by-elements-with-veted-interestsalleges-gotabhaya-rajapaksa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=23592","title":{"rendered":"Mini-war in Weliweriya a “Needless Confrontation” Caused by “Elements with Vested Interests” Alleges Gotabhaya Rajapaksa"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy <\/p>\n

Dharisha Bastians<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"GR080213\"<\/a><\/p>\n

* Gota says villagers were provoked by political elements<\/p>\n

*CCD to conduct inquiries into allegations of army attack on protestors<\/p>\n

* Residents claim security forces stormed Catholic church where demonstrators took refuge<\/p>\n

* Blood stains and bullet marks visible at St. Anthony\u2019s parish Weliweriya<\/p>\n

* Ground water test results due in 10 days: Minister<\/p>\n

* Opposition Leader tours area, expresses concern<\/em><\/p>\n

Residents and authorities yesterday traded blame for the breakout of a mini war in the Gampaha District late Thursday night after a protest by residents in the area demanding clean water took a deadly turn.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At least one person was killed and dozens injured in the clashes that erupted between demonstrators and troops deployed to clear the New Kandy Road in Weliweriya town on Thursday night. Twelve security forces personnel, including the Officer in Charge of the Weliweriya Police Station were also injured in the clashes.
\n
\nResidents charged that troops advanced on demonstrators firing into the crowd. \u201cThey fired tear gas at us to make us disperse and then they shot those who were fleeing,\u201d one Weliweriya resident told Daily FT on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals.<\/p>\n

Others claimed protestors who had taken refuge at St. Anthony\u2019s Church nearby were beaten by security forces personnel who stormed the premises later that night.<\/p>\n

Residents claimed that during a power blackout from about 9:30 p.m. on Thursday night, security forces personnel blocked side roads and conducted search operations looking for demonstrators. Seven people with severe assault wounds were arrested and bailed out yesterday by the St. Anthony\u2019s Parish Priest Fr. Lakpriya Nonis. Police forensic teams were conducting initial investigations into blood stains, bullet holes and damage to property visible inside the church premises.<\/p>\n

The villagers of Weliweriya and Rathupaswela have been agitating for a closure of a Hayleys owned factory in the area they claim has contaminated the ground water in the area.<\/p>\n

\"pic<\/a>

pic courtesy of: BBC Sinhala<\/p><\/div>\n

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa claimed the villagers of the small town in Gampaha had been provoked by elements with vested interest into what he called \u201cneedless confrontations.\u201d The Weliweriya drinking water dispute was settled satisfactorily and the protesting public were satisfied with the solution offered to close a factory which allegedly caused the contamination, but those with political motives provoked some of the residents to stage protests, the Government Information Department quoted the Defence Secretary as saying.<\/p>\n

Elite police teams will probe the allegations that the military fired at protestors using live ammunition, Western Province Senior DIG Anura Senanayake pledged in the shell-shocked town yesterday. \u201cThe Colombo Crimes Division will take over the investigation. We do not believe it was the villagers who provoked the military personnel. We believe it was an external group trying to cause trouble,\u201d the DIG told reporters in Weliweriya.<\/p>\n

Gampaha District MP and Minister of Passenger Transport Lasantha Alagiyawanna said that testing of the ground water in the area the cause of the contamination will be determined by results due in 10 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cTill then, the Government will continue providing the Rathupaswela area with drinking water and keep those measures in place,\u201d the Minister said.<\/p>\n

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe also visited the besieged town last morning, together with MPs John Amaratunge and Ruwan Wijewardane. Wickremesinghe held brief discussions with the Weliweriya police and spoke to residents during his visit.<\/p>\n

The US Embassy in Colombo issued a brief statement about the clashes in Weliweriya, urging restraint on all sides. \u201cThe US Embassy is concerned about the violence in yesterday\u2019s protest in Weliweriya, and urges the Government of Sri Lanka to respect the rights of people to protest peacefully, and urges restraint from all sides,\u201d the statement said. COURTESY:DailyFT<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dharisha Bastians * Gota says villagers were provoked by political elements *CCD to conduct inquiries into allegations of army attack on protestors * Residents claim security forces stormed Catholic church where demonstrators took refuge * Blood stains and bullet marks visible at St. Anthony\u2019s parish Weliweriya * Ground water test results due in 10 …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Mini-war in Weliweriya a “Needless Confrontation” Caused by “Elements with Vested Interests” Alleges Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23592"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23592"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23621,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23592\/revisions\/23621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}