PROTESTS have taken place after the shooting dead of a young Tamil man by Sri Lankan soldiers on Saturday evening in a row over the alleged stealing of grains of sand.

Locals blocked the Kandy-Jaffna highway in protest at his murder which took place during a military operation against “illegal sand mining” in the Tamil city of Muhamalai.

Thiraviyam Ramalingham was reportedly killed when soldiers shot him while he was in a trailer with four other people who were arrested.

Despite being seriously injured, witnesses say that it was 45 minutes before an appeal for medical assistance was made.

It is not clear at this stage whether the 24-year-old died on the scene or later in the Palai divisional hospital he was taken to.

It is the latest killing of a young Tamil man over alleged illegal sand mining.

In 2017 24-year-old Yogarajah Thinesh was shot dead in the northern town of Pointpedro after a truck he was travelling in allegedly failed to stop after a request from police.

Sri Lanka was subjected to 26 years of war waged by the government on the country’s Tamil population, ostensibly aimed at defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elan (LTTE).

The government and the Tamil National Alliance have colluded to block investigations into war crimes committed during the conflict.

Despite the war ending in 2009, residents of the largely Tamil Northern Province are living under de facto military rule facing almost constant harassment and surveillance by police and military intelligence.

State violence has escalated in recent months with a rise in the murder of Tamils reported. Many have been detained after being accused of illegal sand mining.

Locals say the issue is used as an excuse to target and monitor Tamil communities with the real perpetrators bribing police to escape justice.