Colombo  - A key official in the Eastern Province government, which was recently established after Tamil rebels were driven out of the area, was shot to death Friday on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital, police said.

Kumarasamy Nandagopan, alias Ragu - private secretary to the province's chief minster, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan - was shot in Athurugiriya while travelling in a car. His driver also was killed.

Police blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The rebel group, which is fighting for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's Tamil ethnic minority, was ousted from the Eastern Province in a government offensive, after which provincial elections were conducted in May.

Ragu was involved in coordinating the chief minister's programmes.

He was the first key official to be killed since the establishment of the provincial council after a lapse of 20 years. The council could not be established earlier because rebels controlled part of the province.

The military recaptured it in a yearlong operation and were now concentrating on the northern part of the island, the LTTE's last stronghold.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has vowed to hold similar elections in the north after the recapture of the area. (dpa)