Sunday, 1st June 2014
By Gihan Kamalesh Weerasinghe
Three suspected LTTE cadres operating from Malaysia are now in the custody of the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID). Although the Malaysian Police said they were arrested by them, there is evidence to point out that Sri Lankan intelligence establishments played a hand in their arrests.
Reportedly, originally six officers, purportedly from the TID, had visited Malaysia with the objective of assisting the Malaysian authorities to apprehend those suspects and escort them back to Sri Lanka. Eventually, only three TID officers brought the suspects back to the island. They were IP Lal Gamage and Sub Inspectors Premathilaka and Pushpakumara. Although there is no official confirmation, other members of the defence establishment too had visited Malaysia, appearing as TID officers, to escort the suspects to Sri Lanka, reliable sources said.
The three suspects were brought to Sri Lanka on Monday evening on a SriLankan Airline flight, 10 days after they were arrested by Malaysian authorities. They are now in TID custody under detention orders. The three were identified as Sandralingaraja Kusanandan, Mahathevan Kirubakaran and Sellathurai Kirubananthan. They were allegedly attempting to reorganize the LTTE based in Malaysia under the guidance of the Tamil Diaspora.
De facto force
Although it was reported that they were arrested by Malaysian Security, the de facto force behind the arrest was Sri Lankan State Intelligence. A similar operation few years back led to the arrest of Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP in Malaysia, who had then succeeded Velupillai Prabhakaran as the LTTE Leader. His arrest led to the shattering of the LTTE base there, at that time.
The Malaysian Defence Establishment intensified their operations in apprehending LTTE cadres hiding in their country, with the support of the Sri Lankan State Intelligence. The feature of these operations was the handing over of the arrested terrorist suspects to Sri Lankan authorities. The Tamil Diaspora has been thrown into confusion by these arrests and they are trying to disrupt such operations.
Previously, present LTTE Leader Nethiyavan's second-in-command, Nandagopan, was also handed over to Sri Lanka by Malaysia after he was arrested when attempting to flee to UK under a forged passport. Reliable sources said that the latest arrests were possible due to information obtained from Nandagopan.
The senior most leader brought to Sri Lanka from Malaysia on Monday was Kusanandan, an electrician by profession. He was a resident of Meesalai North. The suspect had studied up to the Advanced Level. He had joined the LTTE in 1995. Kusananthan was initially attached to the Political Wing. Subsequently, he was promoted as the administrator of the terrorists' Air Wing in 2000. Perhaps, the reason for his rapid promotion in the organization may have had been due to his marriage to the daughter of the younger brother of the founder of LTTE's Air Wing, Sankar. The girl was under the care of Sankar from a tender age, since her father had died in battle.
TID has revealed that Kusanandan had left for Malaysia in 2004. He was able to fly light aircraft. TID is in possession of photos where the suspect is seen posing beside a light aircraft.
Police Media Spokesman, SSP Ajith Rohana, said Interpol had issued red notice regarding the suspect four years ago. The suspect was allegedly in possession of documents issued by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which had identified him as a refugee at the time of his arrest. The bona fides of the UNHCR are allegedly under question, with the arrest of a terrorist suspect who had been served with a red notice by Interpol, for having had identified the suspect as a refugee. UNHCR had also allegedly pressurized the Sri Lankan authorities not to arrest him.
Musician
Reliable sources said that Mahathevan Kirubakaran, the second of the three suspects arrested in Malaysia, had also been classified as a refugee. He was a musician and was the Chief of LTTE's Cultural Wing. Born in 1972, he joined the LTTE after his O' Levels. Kirubakaran was initially attached to the LTTE's Media Unit. After the Ceasefire Agreement was signed in 2002, he migrated to Norway and was engaged in LTTE propaganda activities in Europe as a musician. He had been stationed in Malaysia since 2006.
“Although the Malaysian Police said they were arrested by them, there is evidence to point out that Sri Lankan intelligence establishments played a hand in their arrests.”
Sellathurai Kirubananthan, the third person arrested from Malaysia, was a labourer. He was born in 1974. A resident of Nallur, Jaffna, he joined the LTTE at the age of 14. Kirubananthan was attached to the terrorists' Intelligence Wing. In the period 1989 to 1999 he was working in a shop at Pettah, providing the LTTE with information about the security in Colombo.
Later, he became a confidant of LTTE Intelligence Wing Leader, Pottu Amman, and had migrated to Malaysia in 2006. He was in the organizing committee of the LTTE War Hero Commemoration Ceremony, which was held in Malaysia last year.
Sources alleged that Interpol, which is based in Lyons, France was about to issue red notices on Kirubananthan and Kirubakaran, based on information supplied by the Sri Lanka Police, at the time of their arrest in Malaysia. SSP Rohana said so far around 40 red notices have had been issued against LTTE cadres. One such notice is on present LTTE Leader Nethiyavan. The red notice against KP is still valid since it was issued against him under India's request.
Although he lives free as a rehabilitated former terrorist cadre in Sri Lanka, he is still recognized as a terrorist by the Indian authorities, who have identified him as a suspect, wanted in connection with the killing of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Indian Defence officials have had visited Sri Lanka several times to record his statements.
From : http://www.ceylontoday.lk/90-65316-news-detail-local-intelligence-breaks-lttes-malaysia-network.html
