Red alert over Tigers in Tamil Nadu
A red alert has been sounded over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) in India, particularly Tamil Nadu, following a warning from
the Interpol, days after US intelligence agency FBI listed the Tigers as
the most “dangerous outfit and deadly extremist group in the world”.
“This is not just because of the FBI statement. We have realised that
the LTTE infiltration has increased, at least by three times, in the
region. They also seem to be developing networks for communication
besides discretely raising money and support for their plans,” a senior
intelligence officer said.
The arrest of seven Sri Lankans, including an LTTE intelligence
member, last week was one such plan thwarted by the Chennai Q branch.
They were gleaning information on Varadaraja Perumal, leader of rival
group Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front, who has been in
India as he was on the LTTE hit list.
According to them, Thambidurai Parameswaran alias Nathan alias Suruli,
the member of LTTE intelligence wing, was working under the guise of a
taxi driver of a hotel. He was in touch with most of Perumal’s family.
He had been spying on Perumal, whose daughter’s wedding has been
scheduled early next month in Delhi.
They were also suspected to have been spying information on Minister
Douglas Devananda.
“We have been advised to be extremely careful and alert. It was one
such exercise that helped us spoil most of their plans. But we are
expecting some larger game plans,” a senior officer based in Tamil Nadu
said.
The issue had been politicised by opposition parties, including
AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa. At a recent press conference, she
alleged that the LTTE was being allowed to carry on smuggling arms and
explosives.
Meanwhile, Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy demanded the
Centre must dismiss the DMK Government in Tamil Nadu for its alleged
soft attitude towards the LTTE.
Answering questions on the arrest of the LTTE intelligence wing
member and seven other Sri Lankans in Chennai, he also charged that the
DMK Government had also been supporting the cause of the LTTE—separate
Tamil Eelam, to serve its own interests.
Reverting back to the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP), he
alleged that the Union Cabinet had sanctioned the project without the
mandatory clearance of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.
He said he would be filing a new interlocutory application in Supreme
Court seeking complete scrapping of the project.
He also alleged that the project was in violation of the Ministry of
Environment and Forests’ binding advice, contained in a letter dated
April 8, 1999 to the Union Surface Transport Ministry that the project
was an environmental disaster and should be dropped altogether.
He also claimed that in his new book titled ‘Ram Sethu: A Symbol of
National Unity’, he would prove that the claim, that the SSCP would be
beneficial to the economy of Tamil Nadu, was based on “cooked up data”.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu police have begun searching for LTTE cadres
across the State following reports that many have fled to India in view
of stepped up action against the group in Sri Lanka.
This follows the recent arrest of LTTE operatives in Tamil Nadu.
Police have said there are hundreds of Sri Lankan Tamils in the State
who do not have proper registration papers.
Tamil Nadu has been sheltering 64,000 refugees in 111 camps since the
ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka in the 1980s.
“The police are also drawing up a list of those who overstay after
their valid permits end,” P. Rajendran, Director General of Police said.
Meanwhile, Police raided the farmhouse of a PMK party leader in Tamil
Nadu’s Madurai district on receiving information that a bomb making
factory was being run there and arrested two men.
Police raided the farmhouse of PMK deputy general secretary
Elanchezian in Pappanakulam village, about 600 km from Chennai, on
receiving information that several people were injured in a blast at a
bomb-making factory being managed at the house.
The PMK is an ally of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
government at the centre and the DMK government in Tamil Nadu.
Police said the blast at the illegal factory had taken place 10 days
ago and an anonymous letter had tipped them off.
On raiding the premises Friday night, police discovered two injured
men, hiding in the vicinity.
Police have arrested two factory workers identified as Mathiswaran,
25, and Periyasamy, 23.
They had been severely injured in the blast and were being secretly
treated for burns.
Police have seized bomb-making material like phosphorus, sulphur and
potassium chlorate from the farmhouse.
The owners of the house, the PMK leader and his brothers, are
absconding.
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