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| Four
Lankan Tamils sentenced to life for killing student The trial lasted seven months and cost the taxpayer £17 million. The leader of the gang Senthamil Thillainathan, 21, received two death sentences for involvement in another murder earlier. In that murder, 25-year old Arvithan Muthukumarasamy's head was sliced off with an axe when he was mistakenly accused of scratching the BMW vehicle of one of the killers. Eight months later, an 18-year old student Supenthar Ramachandran was beaten and his body burned in Roe Green Park in Kingsbury apparently over £200 which the gang claimed was owed by the victim. Referring to this second murder Judge Paget told the four-man gang: "You assaulted him in various way, causing sickening injuries. He was stripped naked and, after beating him, you poured petrol on him and set fire to him so that he was unrecognisable. The violence you used passed belief". The others sentenced in connection with the killing of Ramachandran were Kannan Sivakumar, 31, a former LTTE member who had been granted asylum in Britain. Though given a life term he is expected to be deported to Sri Lanka on the recommendation of the judge. The other two, Pradeep Sivaneesan,19, and Satheeskumar Arulanathan 18, were ordered to be detained in a young offenders' institute. Passing the second sentence on the killing of Muthukumarasamy, the judge told Thillainathan, "The attack was clearly planned. Those who took part were armed with axes and swords and caused truly grievous injuries to all five men and fatal injuries to one". Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee told court that the gang embarked on an act of revenge of almost "unimaginable ferocity". Thillainathan and his gang attacked Muthukumarasamy and four friends while they sat in a car in Wembley. One man was stabbed with a sword and when he tried to ward off blows his hand was virtually sliced. Court heard
that the man recognised one of his assailants and asked "Why
are you doing this?"
The attacker responded by hitting him on the head with an axe. Ramachandran who was a student of science and mathematics at Harrow College had got to know Thillainathan and his accomplices when he sought protection from Muslims who were trying to bully him at school. Thillainathan denied murdering Muthukumarasamy and Ramachandran. The local Harrow press gave wide publicity to the case and earlier reported the spread of crime in the Harrow area. Last year a high profile BBC programme NewsNight devoted 10 minutes or more to the problem of Tamil gangs fighting it out in London. The programme said that gang violence in the Tamil community had led to four violent deaths and up to 200 incidents in 2001-2002. Commander Richard Bryan of the Metropolitan Police was quoted on NewsNight as saying that some of those Tamils involved in violence may be former Tamil Tiger fighters. Antics
in antiquities: Priceless items smuggled But Archaeology Chief W. H. Wijepala responding to the charges said the department was under-staffed and ill-equipped while some of the laws also were as outdated as the antiques. The racket was dug up when the Customs this week found a stock of 500-year-old plates and pots ready to be smuggled out of the country. A Customs officer said investigations by them had revealed that one of the methods used in smuggling the priceless heritage items was by making a replica, photographing it and getting approval from the Archaeological Department. He said there were many cases where the photograph of the replica had been approved by the Archaeological Department but when the item came to the Customs it was the real antique. It was also revealed that most of these priceless items are bought for a paltry sum from various places including rural temples in Kandy, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Dambulla. The Customs officer said this huge racket could be curbed if the Archaeological Department became more dynamic but he alleged that while some officers were idling others were directly collaborating with the smugglers. He quipped that while the Archaeological Department appeared to be asleep in the past, the Customs had collected so many antiques and antiquities that they could open a museum. Dr. Wijepala countering the charges said the department was doing its best despite major drawbacks in human and other resources. He said they were working out amendments to the laws so that the department would have more power to curb smuggling. |
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