Reports say the editor was forcibly arrested while attending the funeral in Colombo of a relative of the newspaper group’s chairman.

“Carried out without a warrant, this arrest was a violation of the rule of law,” Reporters Without Borders said.

White van abduction

According to RSF statement, "Three uniformed police officers and three men in plain clothes arrested Vithyatharan at the funeral of a relative of Uthayan press group chairman M. Saravanapavan".

The RSF say that the police had assaulted the people who tried to intervene to prevent the arrest.

In an earlier report, State-run Daily News had quoted Police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekera as saying the editor had been abducted by unidentified persons driving an unmarked white van.

in custody

Later media minister Laxman Yapa had told Reporters Without Borders by telephone that Vithyatharan was being held by the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) for the purposes of questioning.

“He is currently being interrogated and his relatives will be able to see him this evening,” Minister Yapa had told the RSF.

Uthayan and Sudar Oli have repeatedly been the targets of violence. Six of the group’s employees have been killed since 2005 and its offices in both Jaffna and Colombo have been attacked several times.