Former State Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, better known as “Pillayan,” has been further remanded until July 24 over a series of murders reported in the Batticaloa District in 2008.
The order was made by the Batticaloa Magistrate’s Court on Monday (July 13), with Chandrakanthan — who is being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) — produced before the court via video conference.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has filed cases against Pillayan and several other suspects in connection with five killings that took place in parts of the Batticaloa District in 2008. In a June court filing, investigators linked the former Eastern Province politician to the shootings, which they said involved a T-56 assault rifle and included victims shot near a Hindu kovil and on the main road in Kattankudy.
The former leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) has been in custody since his earlier confession to the 2006 abduction and killing of Eastern University Vice Chancellor Professor S. Ravindranath, a case that opened a sustained accountability track against him over eastern-province killings.
