The main opposition challenger to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today accused the government of deploying thousands of soldiers in civilian clothes in Tamil-dominated northern areas to prevent the minority community from voting in the next week's polls.

"We have information that about 2,000 soldiers in civvies have been deployed in Jaffna alone. They are sent to some areas of Polonnaruwa too. Some platoons have already been sent. Soldiers have been trained to disrupt polling," opposition unity candidate Maithripala Sirisena said, while addressing Colombo-based diplomats.

Sirisena, the former health minister who defected from the Rajapaksa government, said they were keeping the international community, the Election Commissioner as well as foreign election monitors informed about the situation.

Sri Lanka's main Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has endorsed Sirisena, accusing the incumbent President of failing to heal the country's long-standing ethnic conflict after the nearly three decades-long civil war ended in 2009.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, one of Sirisena's main backers, said, "We are getting information from the security forces, with whom we have good relations, about the use of military officers and military personnel for the interference in the electoral process to prevent voting in the north and the east and some other places too."

Wickremesinghe, who is a former prime minister, said the Rajapakse government has "panicked".

"Retired military officers have been deployed along with serving officers. We ask these gentlemen not to do anything foolish," he said.

Military has denied that it is campaigning for Rajapaksa.

Rajapaksa -- who was elected in 2005 and 2010 -- called the snap election two years ahead of schedule seeking a record third term amid signs of a drop in popularity and demands of his powers to be curbed.

He has suffered mass defections both at national and provincial levels with 25 ruling party lawmakers switching allegiance.
(Outlook)