Pillayan and four others granted bail after five years in remand

The Batticaloa Magistrate’s Court yesterday granted bail to former Eastern Province Chief Minister and MP Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, who has been in remand custody for about five years over the assassination of former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Joseph Pararajasingham.

Four other suspects too were granted bail along with Chandrakanthan, remanded under Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). However, the Court imposed a foreign travel ban on all suspects.

Former Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) national coordinator and Eastern provincial councilor Edwin Silwa Krishnanantharaja, K. Kanaganayagam and Army intelligence officer M. Kaleel are among the other suspects.

Chandrakanthan was arrested in October 2015 when he arrived at the CID to give a statement on the assassination of Pararajasingham, who was shot on Christmas Eve in 2005 while he was attending a church service.

Earlier, the Court rejected a request by the representatives of the Attorney General (AG) Department to prevent Chandrakanthan from taking part in the meetings of the District Coordinating Committee (DDC) of Batticaloa.