posted July 02, 2002 10:45 AM            

Sept. 17, 2000 -- A 25-year-old man is nearly beaten to death with cricket bats and then run over twice by a Honda Civic driven by Tamil gang members in Scarborough. Police say the savage attack is in retaliation for a Tamil gang-related slashing days earlier.
Oct. 7, 2000 -- A 22-year-old escapes death after he being swarmed by 15 Tamil gang members brandishing baseball bats and machetes. The victim was inside a doughnut shop with two friends when gang members started smashing the shop's windows.
Oct. 29, 2000-- Tamil gang members shoot to death two men outside a Scarborough highrise and injure two others. An hour later, the shooter is seen in the same grey-coloured van, firing a shot outside a Scarborough cinema.
Nov. 1, 2000 -- Three teens are attacked on their way home from a funeral for a murder victim.
Nov. 26, 2000 -- A 23-year-old newcomer to Canada is stabbed three times in the back by Tamil gang members. The victim, who arrived less than two months before the attack, survives.
Dec. 26, 2000 -- A car holding two women and a one-year-old is ambushed by Tamil gang members who fire six shots. The target of the shooting is believed to be the father of the child, who has Tamil ties, but wasn't in the car.
Jan. 20, 2001 -- A Toronto Police officer's personal car is stolen and torched by Tamil gang members, who also spray the officer's name and the California penal code number for murder, 187, on the wall of the station.
March 5, 2001 -- The Markham man whose son and girlfriend were shot at by Tamil gang members is shot to death when leaving prison.
April 9, 2001 -- A Tamil gang boss is ambushed in North York, on his way home from two friends' court appearance. The botched murder attempt leaves the boss's car riddled with bullets.
Aug. 9, 2001 -- A Scarborough fish market employee is shot in the face by Tamil gang members. The 20-year-old survives the attack.
Sept. 16, 2001 -- A pair of shootings, only hours apart, leave a 24-year-old man dead in Scarborough and another injured in Markham.
Sept. 20, 2001 -- The shooting death of a 45-year-old Scarborough business woman has police scratching their heads for answers.

Despite the introduction of extensive programs in the past decade to educate and help their young men, Toronto Tamils continue to cope with a small criminal element that is "out of control."

"The community has done its best trying to change things, trying to educate, but it seems we are not in any position to control this violence," said Sitha Sittampalam, the president of the Tamil Eelam Society of Canada. "This has been going on for a while and it's not getting any better. The community is very, very upset."

After a couple of years of diminishing violence, police have said there is a recent resurgence in hostilities between the AK Kannan and VVT gangs that dominate the Scarborough area.

An estimated 200 to 250 young men are involved with the two gangs, which are bitter rivals. There is no evidence of links, however, to the Tamil Tigers' political struggle in Sri Lanka, a comprehensive study showed last year.

Sittampalam said gang violence here casts a pall of suspicion over the entire community even though those responsible are a small fraction of the estimated 200,000 Tamils in the city.

"It is impossible for us to control this kind of group violence," Sittampalam said. "These people do what they please. They are out of control and there seems to be nothing we can do."

Sittampalam said the community is counting almost entirely on police to break up the gangs.

Gary Anandasangaree, of the Canadian Tamil Youth Development Centre, warned against sitting back and waiting for the justice system to turn things around.

"We must work together as a community and help the youth who are at risk," Anandasangaree said.