LTTE gunmen shot dead Ms. Maheshwari Velayudan, public relations coordinator and adviser of Minister Douglas Devanada in general area Karaweddi, Nelliaddy this evening at around 7.50.

According to available information Ms. Maheshwari, 53, was visiting her mother when she was assassinated, by gunmen who were clearly identified as LTTE attempting to guise as military, sources close to Ms. Velayudan said.

Ms. Maheshwari has directly arrived from Colombo to see her mother who was said to be a cancer patient. Three gunmen had stormed into the house, directed several pistol gunshots at Ms. Maheswari claiming her life and fled immediate amidst the tensed atmosphere, informed sources said. Several other close relatives of Ms . Maheshwari were also said present during the tragic incident. "Three individuals in military similar attire but in slippers rushed into the house, asked for our identity cards and deliberately spoke in influent Tamil. We realised that some thing was fishy and in seconds Maheshwari was lying in the floor with head shot injuries. It was terrible and hardly we could react as we were traumatized by the incident" a close relative of Ms. Mahewari was quoted as saying.

Ms. Maheshwari was a renowned Human Rights activist and loved among many as a representative and a figurehead of the Jaffna Tamil community; a member of the EPDP central committee and a lawyer by profession. She was also a competitive and a competent spokesperson of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP), a mainstream Tamil political organisation who are constantly opposing the ruthless dictatorship of the LTTE for suppressing the legitimate rights of the majority Tamils over decades.

The LTTE has assassinated over a dozen EPDP members and other main stream Tamil politicians and academics during its spree of three decade long violence.