Crackdown on LTTE to prevent Tamil Nadu emerging as hub

As the Sri Lankan army continue its offensive deep into LTTE strongholds in the North, Tamil Nadu police have effectively “strangulated” the Tigers’ logistical routes by “discreetly” clamping down on members of its logistics module to prevent the state from emerging as their “procurement hub”.

Some of the top-rung members of the LTTE’s procurement module who had come to Chennai recently have been arrested and imprisoned, police sources said.

“This effort is going on in a discreet way and we have indeed stepped up our efforts against the organisation, which looks to procure material from Tamil Nadu, especially Chennai,” a top police official said.

Arrests of these men have not been reported in the media since police did not want to disclose details, he said.

“Increased vigil on Rameswaram coast as well as in Chennai have resulted in more Tigers being nabbed and we are also keeping a close watch on the different refugee camps,” the official said.

“A member of the LTTE is monitored from the moment he lands on Indian soil (read Chennai, Rameswaram) and is unaware that he is being tracked by the police. We allow him to wander for a while before catching him red-handed with the material as well as his contacts,” they said.

The arrests include some senior members of the module. One accused, Thambi Annan, was nabbed after police followed him for a month to bust his contacts and recovered from him aluminum ingots and ball bearings, they said.

The crackdown has been intensified as the Tamil Tigers were locked in a battle to save their last strongholds in northern Sri Lanka.

Besides Thambi Annan, who reportedly landed in Chennai to “identify” new suppliers, LTTE cadres have been arrested in other parts of the state also, such as Madurai and Rameswaram.

The sources said in one of the biggest catches in recent times, the banned outfit’s intelligence member, Thambidurai Parameswaran alias Suruli and 10 of his associates were nabbed from suburban Madipakkam, with police’s ‘Q’ branch recovering iron balls, two-wheelers and spare parts of motorboats from them.

Suruli was reportedly entrusted with the duty of gathering information on the movement of EPRLF leader Varadaraja Perumal and Sri Lankan Minister Douglas Devananda.

Recent reports suggest that the LTTE has shifted its base to Kerala following strict security measures in Tamil Nadu. Zee News