Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, commonly known as Pillayan, former State Minister and leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), has been arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for an ‘abduction and disappearance’, said Sri Lankan police today.

Pillayan was taken into custody in Batticaloa yesterday and is currently being transported to Colombo for further questioning. 

Sri Lankan opposition MP Harsha de Silva has claimed that the recent release of a 22-year-old youth detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was timed to coincide with the upcoming visit of a European Union delegation.

Pro-Sri Lankan government paramilitary leader Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, widely known as Karuna Amman, has claimed that the UK’s sanctions against him are politically motivated and driven by elements within the Tamil diaspora.

 In a recent interview with BBC Tamil, the former paramilitary leader and deputy minister rejected allegations of human rights abuses and accused the British government of acting under pressure from the British Tamil diaspora.

Temperatures are rising, impacting women led businesses in the north writes Amita Arudpragasam for the Himal Southasian, as extreme heat events linked to climate change become more frequent.

Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, better known as Pillayan, a former chief minister and current head of the paramilitary Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), was arrested by Sri Lankan police in Batticaloa on Tuesday night.

Sri Lanka’s newly released preliminary census figures from 2024 illustrated how the Tamil North-East, particularly the Vanni region, remains the worst-affected part of the island in terms of population loss and stagnation.