2 Survive To Tell Of Sri Lankan Abduction Squads
By Krishan Francis , Associated Press -August 22, 2012
By Krishan Francis , Associated Press -August 22, 2012
The politician knew something was amiss when a suspicious white van pulled alongside him at a Colombo park and four men got out, pretending to exercise. Ravindra Udayashanta alerted his supporters, and police. Soon, the gunbattle began.
In this photo taken May 7, 2012, Ravindra Udayashantha, a 38-year-old town council chairman, looks through iron bars guarding the entrance to his home in Kolonnawa, suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Udayashantha dramatically pre-empted an abduction attempt when he and his entourage surrounded the men from a suspicious white van that pulled alongside him at a Colombo park and captured them. In Sri Lanka, anyone who has crossed someone of importance is wary of white vans, said to be the vehicles of choice for shadowy squads who ''disappear'' opponents of powerful people. Udayashanta said he had been on alert since his brother had been grabbed, an act he took that as a warning from his political rivals. Photo: Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP
In this photo taken May 7, 2012, Ravindra Udayashantha, a 38-year-old town council chairman, displays an army identity card that he seized from one of the men from a white van, in Kolonnawa, suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Udayashantha dramatically pre-empted an abduction attempt when he and his entourage surrounded the men from a suspicious white van that pulled alongside him at a Colombo park and captured them. Eventually, at gunpoint, the men admitted who they were: Sri Lankan government soldiers. In Sri Lanka, anyone who has crossed someone of importance is wary of white vans, said to be the vehicles of choice for shadowy squads who ''disappear'' opponents of powerful people. Photo: Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP
In Sri Lanka, anyone who has crossed someone of importance is wary of white vans, said to be the vehicles of choice for shadowy squads who “disappear” opponents of powerful people. So, Udayashanta’s armed supporters immediately went into action.
“I heard the crack of a gun and I too pulled out my pistol and fired back,” said Udayashanta, who had been involved in a long-running dispute with another ruling party lawmaker over a business deal. Udayashanta’s brother already had disappeared — dragged away one month earlier, he says, by men in a white van.
But things went differently on this March day. Udayashanta and his entourage surrounded the men from the white van and captured them. Eventually, at gunpoint, the men acknowledged who they were: Sri Lankan government soldiers.
In this Saturday, May 5, 2012 photo, Shiromani Prabaharan, left, wife of abducted Sri Lankan ethnic Tamil businessman Ramasamy Prabaharan offer prayers during a special religious ceremony for his wellbeing at a Hindu temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Ramasamy was abducted in February in front of his house, two days before a court was to hear his lawsuit against top police officers for detaining and torturing him over alleged links to rebels. Shiromani said a white van filled with armed men pulled up behind their car just as they returned home. In a country where people had hoped the 2009 end of its bloody, long-running civil war would mean a return to normalcy, a country with a history of official forced disappearances that stretches back to the 1970s, the open secret of the white vans has come to exemplify the terror felt by anyone who runs afoul of Sri Lanka's rulers. Photo: Eranga Jayawardena / AP
