COLOMBO. Oct 9 : Sri Lanka further tightened security arrangements ahead of Tuesday's parliamentary polls amid fears of more bloodshed as 61 people were confirmed killed during campaigning, election monitors said, reports AFP.

A record 1.726 cases of vote-related violence had been reported to independent monitors during the live-week campaign period with at least 61 people killed in attacks.

Attacks by the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LITE) guerrillas, who are not running for election, had claimed the lives of 41 people, the private Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said.

This campaign has proved to be both qualitatively and quantitatively more violent than the 1999 presidential election, where the total number of incidents reported was 1.483," the CMEV said.

CMEV spokesman Arjuna Parakrama said they feared there could be more bloodletting on polling day as there was a clear trend indicating more weapons being used in the run up to the election.

Police said they had taken strict measures to prevent party

supporters congregating around the 9,500 polling stations amid reports that armed groups were planning to capture booths and stuff ballot boxes.

My message to the voter is to go early and cast the vote." oppo-s 1 tion leader Ranil Wlckremesinghe told reporters here. "We know where the government is trying to use thuggen', but we are ready to meet any challenge."

President Chandrika Kumaratunga, whose peoples Alliance Party (PA) is seeking a second six-year term, appealed for a free and fair election and said she had instructed police to take strong action against offenders.

However, police said that the separatist Tamil Tigers could still make an impact on voting day by escalating attacks against government forces in the island's north east or resorting to suicide bombings elsewhere.

The LITE has targeted ruling party meetings with two suicide bomb attacks which had claimed the lives of at least 35 people. Another seven died in an earlier suicide bombing in Colombo last month.

ElecUons in some areas under rebel control would amount to a

"farce" as at least 250.000 people would be prevented from reaching the ballot boxes by Tigers guerrillas, theCMEVsaid.

Elsewhere token ballot boxes had been placed in "utterly inaccessible" areas for ordinary citizens. the centre lambasted.

The election is monitored by several international observer groups, including 74 delegates from the European Union who will help to supervise the balloting.

The EU monitors had expressed concern at the escalating violence and called on the authorities to fully investigate complaints against ruling party supporters in at least one instance of a shooting.

The Marxist JVP. or People's Liberation Front, said they were concerned the government would launch a propaganda war against them after the campaigning period closed on Sunday.

"We have no forum to counter these allegations." JVP spokesman Wimal Weerawansa said. He warned of an uprising if the ruling party resorted to dirty tricks. 'There will be strikes and demonstration as this country has never seen before if the government tries to rig the elections."