Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda stated that the President pardoned the Mayor of the Jaffna Municipal Council Vishwalingam Maniwannan. Maniwannan had been arrested by the Jaffna Police on the morning of the 9th under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for creating a group of five persons as a Jaffna Urban Security Force without informing the police and introducing a separate uniform for them and deploying them on duty in the city.
Douglas Devananda stated this in a statement issued to the media, and it has also been published by the government newspaper Thinakaran.
The Jaffna Municipal Council was controlled by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). However, the TNA lost its budget and lost its power in the Municipal Council. The present Mayor Vishwalingam Maniwannan was elected to the position with the support of Minister Douglas Devananda and the SLFP.
Douglas Devananda has stated that the President had pardoned Mayor Vishwalingam Manivannan at his request.
