Canada urges Sri Lanka to probe murder of its Tamil-origin citizen

Colombo, May 12 (ANI): Canada has said that it expected Sri Lanka to carry out investigations into the murder of a Canadian citizen in the country.

Anthonypillai Mahendrarajah, a Sri Lankan Tamil origin, was killed last week after he went to reclaim his property that was lost during the war.

His properties were said to be in Kilinochchi, the town that was the headquarters for Tamil Tiger rebels, The BBC reports.

The Canadian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Bruce Levy, said that Mahendrarajah was apparently murdered by a group of men just outside Kilinochchi.

Levy said he had sent a formal note to the government asking for a full investigation into last week's killing adding that Canada would track its progress.

Media reports and sources in northern Sri Lanka have said that villagers had seen men in balaclavas attack Mahendrarajah. He had struggled with his killers and his genitals were mutilated.

The police spokesman has declined to comment, but said that four teams of investigators had been deployed for investigations but no one had yet been arrested.

Mahendrarajah is said to have shops in Kilinochchi, who fled and settled in Canada during the war years.

His properties were taken by the Tamil Tigers and are reportedly now being used by Sri Lankan supermarket chain and other businesses. (ANI)