Senior Tamil scribe abducted

Radio journalist Nadarajah Guruparan has been abducted by unknown men in Colombo, reports PK Balachandran.

Nadarajah Guruparan, news editor of the Colombo-based Tamil radio station Sooriyan FM was abducted by unknown persons in Colombo on Tuesday, the Free Media Movement (FMM) said.

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Guruparan, a print medium and radio journalist of 25 years' standing, was kidnapped as he was going to office in his self-driven van, FMM's convenor Sunanda Deshapriya told Hindustan Times.

"Guruparan had left his house early to work on the 6.30 am news bulletin. When he did not reach office at the usual time, the staff called his house to enquire. A search quickly revealed that his van lay abandoned a short distance from his house. The engine was on, the mobile phone was there, but the man was missing," Deshapriya said.

According to the FMM, Guruparan had been receiving death threats from the "paramilitary groups".

The threats had increased in the past two weeks, but Guruparan told the callers that he could not be browbeaten.

The war in Sri Lanka is now not just between the government forces and the LTTE's combat units, but has spilled over to other sectors.

Such tags are attached to individual journalists creating fears among them in the context of the armed conflict involving shadowy killer squads besides regular troops of the government and the LTTE.