Friday, August 1, 2008

Tamil Nadu police Q branch nabs two linchpins of LTTE procurement net

In its latest sweeps against the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Tamil Nadu the anti-terrorist operation unit of the Police, the Q Branch announced that it has two prize catches in their hands for police interrogation.

They said J. Thambi Annan alias Daniel (46) a confidante of the LTTE leadership hailing from Kilinochchi, the Tamil Tiger stronghold, who was engaged in procurement activities of warlike material in the Southern Indian state and Sea Tiger leader Soosai's nephew Vijayaneethan alias Naveen (26) who has been specially trained for military sea attacks, living in the South Indian state, under their arrest.

Describing the arrest of Daniel the Q Branch said he is a "significant and important catch". The middle aged man , a Sri Lankan National, was heading the LTTE''s procurement department and has been in the top of the outfit's hierarchy, according to top officials of the anti-terrorist unit. He came to India about a month ago in a ferry and was followed by the police to obtain information about his contacts in the state. He was trying to smuggle gasoline this time, a badly needed ingredient for their war in Sri Lanka , the police said. He was wanted in connection with smuggling of explosives, swimming and communication equipment among others for the Tamil Tigers.

Daniel has been described as the most important LTTE agent in Tamil Nadu procuring major consignments, including explosive substances, for the LTTE from India and other parts of the world, turning the Southern Indian state into a major supply centre for the ongoing war and terrorist activities in Sri Lanka .

He was also involved, according to the latest investigations, in the attempts to smuggle consignments of aluminium ingots and ball bearings, which were seized by the police in Ramanathapuram and Madurai districts recently. In fact, the police had got its leads to arrest him after those failed attempts, the police said. Since he could not send the consignments from Ramanathapuram he was planning alternative routes through Tanjavur and Pudukottai, the police said.

The younger Naveen, son of Sea Tiger leader Soosai's brother was arrested due to the investigation of the above procurement network in the state of Tamil Nadu.

He happens to be the son of the brother of Soosai, one of the top three of the LTTE hierarchy including Prabhakaran and Pottuamman. Soosai, was born as Thillaiyambalam Sivanesan, and his brother is Sivasekeran. Intense questioning revealed that Naveen was the son of Sivasekaran and belonged to the Sea Tigers. He was specially trained in seaborne terror attack against conventional forces.

It was also revealed that Naveen joined the terrorist movement as a child soldier at the age of 13 and was active in the outfit for more than a decade, till he left the island in 2006. He was living with his wife and two children at a refugee camp in Tiruvadavur in Madurai district. He stayed a few weeks in the Mandapam camp before being shifted to Tiruvadavur.

The police suspect that he had connections with Daniel and other lesser procurement agents of the LTTE. According to Q branch investigations, he had good contacts with several refugees living in camp at Kottapattu in Tiruchi and at other camps across Tiruchi district.

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