Former LTTE fighter and now Parliamentarian Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias ‘Pillayan’, who was also the former Chief Minister of the Eastern Province was granted bail by Batticaloa High Court today (24) in the case filed over the 2005 killing of former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham.
Pillayan and 04 others were released on two personal bails of Rs. 100,000/- each.
Pararajasingham was shot dead by gunmen in military fatigues in December 2005 at St. Mary’s co-cathedral church in the Batticaloa town while attending Christmas prayers. He was killed on the spot.
The MP’s wife, Sugunam Pararajasingham sustained serious injuries in the gunfire while several others were also injured. Some eyewitnesses reported that the gunmen left in a rickshaw and headed towards the Patpodi camp, an old tooth powder factory used by the Karuna paramilitary group. Pillayan was part of the Karuna Amman led Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP) at the time Pararajasingham was killed.
Two TMVP paramilitaries, Pradeep Master (Edwin Silva Krishnanandaraja) and Gajan Maamaa (Rangasami Kanaganayagam), were arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on 8 October 2015 in connection with Pararajasingham’s assassination. Pillayan was also arrested by the CID, on 11 October 2015, in connection with the assassination.
