Jaffna Mayor Vishwalingam Maniwanan Arrested By TID For Setting Up “Separate” Police Unit

Jaffna Mayor Vishwalingam Maniwannan has been arrested by the Police Terrorism Investigation Division last night.

The Jaffna Municipal Council has set up a police force to provide them with uniforms similar to those of the LTTE police in the past.

Prior to his arrest, the mayor said at a press conference that the Jaffna Municipal Police was tasked with overseeing the dumping of rubbish in the city, collecting fines, handling vehicles and investigating corona violators. He also stated that such a force has been established to facilitate this task.

However, the EPDP abstained from participating in the Jaffna Municipal Council session yesterday due to not obtaining the approval of the Jaffna Municipal Council and not informing other parties in this regard.

The Jaffna Police had earlier questioned the Mayor, after which the Police Terrorism Investigation Division interrogated him for six hours.

Following the interrogation, the Police Terrorism Investigation Division took the Jaffna Mayor to the Police Terrorism Investigation Office in Vavuniya and its officers are conducting further investigations into the incident.