JAFFNA, Oct 29: Tension gripped the Sri Lankan town of Jaffna on Saturday after the army fired on supporters of the Tamil Tigers who took to the streets following rumours that soldiers had raped a Tamil girl. A 20-year-old man was killed in the firing.

But human rights activists said they had been unable to locate the alleged victim.

“We have tried hard to find the victim so that we can agitate for action to be taken against the military, but so far we have been unable to find a victim. As far as we have gathered, a group of LTTE supporters carrying giant posters of (party chief) Vellupillai Prabhakaran had been stopped at an army checkpoint and prevented from entering an LTTE-controlled region on Friday.

“The allegation of molestation of a female seems to be a retaliation against the army,” a Jaffna-based human rights activist said.