Kajan and Sulakshan: Tragic symbols of ongoing police brutality

Featured image courtesy Tamil Guardian

RAISA WICKREMATUNGE on 10/27/2016

On Monday and Tuesday, IGP Pujith Jayasundera’s mobile number, given out to the public just months before, rang unanswered.

The reason – the shooting of two youths, 23 year old Natarajan Kajan and 24 year old Pounraj Sulakshan, who were traveling by motorbike when they were asked to stop at the Kulappidi Junction roadblock in Kankesanthurai by police.

When they didn’t, gunshots rang out. The police spokesman acknowledged to the media that the post mortem report found bullets lodged in one of the rider’s body – even as the police tried to claim it had been an accident.

President of the Jaffna University Arts Faculty Students’ Union, K.Rajeevan spoke to sister paper Maatram about how the police had initially attempted to cover up the incident. Rajeevan said he was not in Jaffna at the time of the accident, but had gone to the hospital later on as events unfolded.

While the police had initially asked for two students to come with them to the hospital to identify Gajan and Sulakshan, they never showed them their bodies, Rajeevan said. Up until the afternoon, the police claimed it had been an accident.

It was only in the evening that the police told Kajan and Sulakshan’s parents that they had made a grave mistake, acknowledging that there had been shooting involved. The police had offered to pay for funeral expenses, Rajeevan said.

Speaking further, Rajeevan said that the police had also pressurized the family to hold the funerals quickly.

Five police officers were immediately remanded when these facts came to light, thanks to the coroner.

Early reports indicated the students had sped without stopping for police, who had opened fire. The rider of the motorcycle, Sulakshan was shot several times, losing control of the motorcycle, which slammed into a parapet wall causing serious injuries to Kajan, who succumbed to his injuries shortly after.

In the wake of the deaths, there was widespread outrage. Over 2000 students of Jaffna University blocked the A9 road, before submitting a list of demands. Click below to read in full:

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