UPFA candidate Athaullah and his gang is alleged to have gone to the Al-Hamra polling centre in Oluvil on FRiday afternoon and had tried to stuff ballot boxes. However the officer in charge had prevented this act. “Athaullah’s gang had then attacked the polling officer and had fled the scene,” SLMC sources said.

Meanwhile UPFA national list nominee Anver Ismail and his goons is alleged to have attacked voters and tried to stuff ballot boxes in Sammanthurai.

While Anver Ismail is reported to have traveled in a Special Task Force vehicle, his goons had traveled in four other vehicles, bearing number plates: 51-4148, 62-6023, 59-7189 and 61-919.

Meanwhile the SLMC in a statement alleged ‘widespread intimidation and harassment of SLMC supporters in the Muslim areas in the Ampara district.’

Reports reaching the SLMC elections secretariat said that several leading personalities of the UPFA were spearheading unruly mobs of people and instigating widespread intimidation and harassment of voters in the Muslim areas of the district. The particular flashpoints are the polling divisions of Pottuvil, Kalmunai and Sammnthurai and Oluvil.

The SLMC also claimed that the UPFA candidates Anver Ismail and M. Hareez accompanied by large number of masked persons, had entered polling boots, assaulted and intimidated the voters. The SLMC also alleged that these UPFA mobs had carried firearms and other offensive weapons in their intimidation process.

Meanwhile, SLMC secretary General M.T. Hasan Ali in a letter to DIG East Neville Wijesinghe alleged that around 500 persons, some of them heavily armed had gathered outside the Al-Bahriya polling booth in Kalmunai and have intimidated the voters and prevented them from exercising their vote.

The UPFA on the other hand has levelled a series of allegations against the SLMC.

Accordingly, A UPFA supporter identifies as Raju sustained serious injuries on Friday morning at Akkaraipattu’s 5th Mile Post when alleged SLMC supporters attacked him with an axe. He has been admitted to the Ampara base hospital. Another UPFA supporter also was injured during the incident; he has been admitted to the Akkaraipattu hospital.

UPFA Ampara district candidate Segu Izzadeen told the Daily Mirror that other than a few incidents between supporters of rival parties, the situation was ‘quite normal’. He also pointed out that there had been no LTTE related incidents in the district.

Rival party sources also alleged that the SLMC had got down 50 underworld members, to intimidate voters into casting their ballot in favour of the SLMC, so that they will secure the district.

Some SLMC members had even gone to the extent of chasing polling agents, sources alleged. However when the Daily Mirror queried whether the UPFA would request for an annulment for the district, Mr. Izzadeen said, “no chance for a re-poll because it will be a tedious procedure, which would take a long time,” he said.

While the rest of the country was seemingly ‘peaceful’ at yesterday’s General Election to the 13th Parliament, the North and East provinces took a turn for the worst with large-scale impersonation and other illegal activities allegedly carried out by the LTTE, depriving a ‘free and fair’ election, but giving an upper hand to the Tiger-backed Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

Jaffna, Trincomalee and the Vanni districts were the worst affected, due to LTTE impersonation. The Tiger organisation had also taken the upper hand due to the large number of displaced persons and had instead sent their own groups to make use of those polling cards, informed sources said.

The LTTE had also transported voters in their own vehicles, which was termed as an illegal act by officials. They had intimidated the voters in the vehicle to vote for the Tamil National Alliance,” sources alleged.

The Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) Trincomalee District candidate K. Vigneswaran told the Daily Mirror yesterday that he had requested Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake for an annulment of the Trincomalee District, due to these irregularities.

The LTTE had also voted for those who had failed to make use of their voting franchise, he said.

Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) Leader V. Anandasangaree, who contested the elections independently from the Jaffna District, said that due to the large-scale LTTE impersonation, he would also request for an annulment of the Jaffna District Election.

The LTTE are running the show here (Jaffna), he said. While terming government servants as mere ‘servants of the LTTE’, Mr. Anandasangaree accused all such government workers of merely taking orders from the LTTE and thus failing to carry out their duties.

All we can do is complain to the Election Commissioner, he lamented. He also indicated that the police too seem to have failed in their duty to a certain extent by not carrying out necessary arrests, maybe due to fear from the LTTE.

Mr. Anandasangaree charged that some 5000 LTTE members had forcibly entered all Jaffna polling centres, intimidated the polling officers at the booths and had stuffed ballot boxes. The Tigers had traveled in hijacked buses. The LTTEers are reported to have also made use of students to stuff the ballot boxes in the Jaffna district.

Tamil National Alliance Batticaloa District candidate and TULF Vice President Joseph Pararajasingham, who underwent some harassment from the LTTE Karuna faction told the Daily Mirror that the ‘Batticaloa District was peaceful yesterday’.

Elections Commissioner Dissanayake early this week vowed to hold a re-poll in any areas, which underwent polling irregularities.

Certain Muslim dominated areas in the Eastern Province were also tense yesterday mainly due to rifts between the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) candidates.

A UPFA supporter identifies as Raju sustained serious injuries yesterday morning at Akkaraipattu’s 5th Mile Post when alleged SLMC supporters attacked him with an axe. He has been admitted to the Ampara base hospital. Another UPFA supporter also was injured during the incident; he has been admitted to the Akkaraipattu hospital.

UPFA Ampara district candidate Segu Izzadeen said that other than a few incidents between supporters of rival parties, the situation had been ‘quite normal’ in many parts of the Eastern Province. He also pointed out that there had been no LTTE related incidents in the district.

Rival party sources also alleged that the SLMC had got down 50 underworld members, to intimidate voters into casting their ballot in favour of the SLMC, so that they will secure the district.

Some SLMC members had even gone to the extent of chasing polling agents, sources alleged.