Illegal land encroachers in Batticaloa’s Mayilanthamadu–Mathavanai area have reportedly opened fire on cattle belonging to local Tamil farmers, in yet another incident highlighting growing lawlessness and state indifference in the region.
The shooting, which took place on October 11, saw a cow owned by local farmer Muthupillai Vendan shot dead. The animal was later taken away by the perpetrators for meat. When the affected farmers went to the police to lodge a complaint, officers at the Mayilanthamadu–Mathavanai station allegedly refused to register it, claiming they were “engaged in online training sessions” and were therefore unable to accept the report.
Tamil farmers have condemned the response as further evidence of bias and neglect by the Sri Lankan police, who they say have consistently failed to act against illegal encroachment and violence in the area.
Just days earlier, Batticaloa District MP Kandasami Prabhu of the National People’s Power (NPP), together with a group of local representatives, had met with the Officer-in-Charge of the same police station. They had urged authorities to take immediate legal action against those involved in illegal deforestation and land grabbing on farmers’ grazing lands. Despite these appeals, residents say that no meaningful steps have been taken, and attacks have continued with impunity.
Encroachment and deforestation have become a growing issue across the Eastern Province, where Tamil farmers and herders are being increasingly pushed off their ancestral lands by Sinhala settlers and state-backed actors. Environmental groups and civil society organisations have also warned that unchecked deforestation in areas such as Mayilanthamadu is destroying vital ecosystems while threatening the livelihoods of rural farming communities.
Local residents have accused the police and other state agencies of turning a blind eye to these ongoing abuses, enabling them further,
Tamil politicians and rights activists have repeatedly raised concerns over what they describe as a coordinated campaign of Sinhalisation and land appropriation in the East, carried out through state inaction, selective law enforcement, and the often overt support of security forces.
