In a search operation in Pandiruppu on 23 April, over 500 people were arrested and 100 were detained for further enquiries. Following a Tiger attack on a naval vessel two days earlier, shells were fired from Vavunativu Army camp towards Kannakudah. The Kannaki Amman Hindu temple was damaged. Reports say the Tigers earlier shot dead two Sinhalese farmers and ambushed a police unit that rushed to the scene. Six policemen were wounded a week later in a bomb attack on a jeep at Savalakadai, south of Batticaloa.
People arranging to go abroad are under increasing pressure from the security forces.
S Nathan, travelling to Colombo from Kaluvanchikudi, to go abroad was taken into custody along with his wife and child at Welikanda on 7 April. They were later killed. The STF claims that they were LTTE members. Security forces are currently compiling a list of people who have gone abroad from Batticaloa. LTTE s Pistol Group , which carries out selective assassinations, shot and wounded a policeman and a civilian in Valaichenai on 17 April.