A former journalist with the leftist Hiru paper, Lalith Seneviratne, was abducted at his home Monday night [5 February]. Meanwhile, a trade union activist and the editor of the monthly Akuna (Thunder), Sisira Kumara, was reported missing from his work at an electrical workshop and another activist, Nihal Serasinghe, who worked with the monthly was also feared abducted almost simultaneously.

Leftist activists alleged that the three friends were kidnapped by the abduction squad operated by the Sri Lankan military.

Mr Sisira Kumara is the editor of a monthly paper of a leftist trade union (Dumriya Kamkaru Ekathuva) of Ceylon Government Railways (CGR) workers.

Mr Lalith Seneviratne, a former journalist who worked with the Hiru from the start till the paper stopped publishing, has been helping the monthly magazine with layout work.

Sisira Kumara, founding leader of the trade union, was reported missing at his work in Marudana [Colombo] while he was on duty at the electrical workshop of the Sri Lankan Railways. He was an active participant in the joint Sinhala-Tamil event held in October in 2003 in Colombo. The event was disturbed by an ultra-nationalist mob.

"A group of five to seven persons dressed in plainclothes visited the home of Mr Seneviratne and took him away. When he shouted to his wife, sensing danger, one member of the group stopped the wife from intervening, saying that they were from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID)," said Free Media Movement (FMM) in Colombo.

Seneviratne's wife had lodged a complaint with the police in Aturugiriya. Police officials have told the family that they have not taken anyone by the name of Lalith Seneviratne into custody for questioning.

"FMM is seriously concerned for his safety, since at the time of this release, five hours after his abduction, no law enforcement authority had admitted to taking him into custody, nor had there been any news available about his whereabouts," the FMM said.

The FMM organized a demonstration against the abduction Tuesday noon in front of the Fort railway station.

Source: TamilNet website in English 6 Feb 07

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