KKS-bound Tigers had last meal with Prabhakaran

Walter JAYAWARDHANA

US: The interrogation of the two Black Tigers- the suicide bombers arrested by the Tamil Nadu police has revealed that they have had the traditional meal with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Prabhakaran before they set on a journey of suicide mission to blow up the Kankesenturai Harbour.

The two Black Tigers were among other Sea Tigers who met their leader before they embarked on their mission that ended abruptly when they were arrested by the Indian Coast Guard at an undisclosed place.

It is traditional for the LTTE leader to partake a meal with LTTE cadres when they are sent on a mission that has no chance of survival.

The suicide boat case has now been transferred to the specialised Q Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Tamil Nadu police that deals with political militancy in the state. Many years ago the branch was created to deal with Indian Naxalites.

The Q Branch operates like a military intelligence unit, gathering minute details, before arresting anybody. Police reports from Tamil Nadu show the whole Q Branch is preoccupied with the LTTE these days.

Acting on intelligence gathered from varied agencies, it was the Q Branch police officers who discovered tons of steel ball bearings being transported in a vehicle to be taken to Sri Lanka for the manufacture of claymore bombs.

The case relating to the suicide boat that has been transferred to the Q branch started when the Indian Coast Guard intercepted a fibre glass boat in the mid seas off Kodiakarai coast on February 13.

Five persons including an Indian were on the boat. They were armed with a AK-47 assault gun, ammunition, grenades and a satellite phone.

The boat was towed towards Chennai and anchored there for five days without anyone knowing that the boat was laden with high explosives on its walls - a mixture of RXD and TNT.

It was the intense interrogation of the five men that revealed that the boat was laden with the most lethal explosives to explode on impact.

They told Indian detectives that the boat was meant to explode the Kankesenturai harbour in Jaffna peninsula.

Sri Lankan Navy ships are usually anchored in the Kankasanthurai harbour often. With the judicial permission the security personnel towed the boat away to the mid sea and exploded it.

Police say they are investigating and collecting details about the calls made over the satellite phone, with the LTTE headquarters in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu. As soon as those investigations are over, subpoenas will be served on all suspects.

The five suspects will be charged under the Indian Arms Act of 1959, the Explosive Substances Act of 1908 and the Foreigners Act.