Profile of a Terrorist

RAFIK JALALDEEN

Velupillai Prabhakaran was born in Velvettithurai on November 26, 1954. He was a Hindu by birth. He joined the student group TIP, during the standardization debates. In 1972, Prabhakaran founded an organization named Tamil New Tigers (TNT) which was a successor to many initial organizations that protested against the majority.

In 1975, after being part and parcel of the Tamil movement, he carried out his first political murder assassinating the Mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiappah, by shooting him at point blank range while the Mayor was about to enter the Hindu temple at Ponnaalai. The assassination was carried out in response to the 1974 Tamil conference incident, and the Tamil radicals blamed Alfred Duraiappah for his links with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) as well as for allegedly betraying the Tamil nationalist sentiments in Jaffna.

Prabhakaran studied up to G.C.E. (Ordinary Level) at Chidampara College. Prabhakaran was also known to suffer from high blood pressure and TIA’s.

On May 5, 1976, the TNT was renamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as Tigers.

Over three decades of civil war, Prabakaran had committed many crimes and destruction targetting leaders, Security Forces and innocent civilians. As he created bloodshed and mayhem and untold suffering in the country this also severely damaged the economy of the country.

The LTTE assassinated the head of the State and political leaders including Tamil politicians and Government officials who failed to obey his orders.

He was wanted by Interpol for terrorism, murder, organized crime and conspiracy to commit terrorism. There are not many insights into Prabhakaran’s personal life, either from his interviews or from cited media sources, although it is widely known that he is married to Mathivathani Erambu.

Their marriage was held in Tirupporur, near Chennai on October 01, 1984. They have a daughter Duwaraka and two sons Charles Anthony and Balachandran.

Charles Anthony who was in the battlefront with Prabakaran was killed by troops in the final battle that erupted in Mullaitivu. The whereabouts of his daughter Duwaraka and Balachandran are not known, but it is widely believed that they are not in Sri Lanka.

Prabhakaran’s first and only major press conference was held in Killinochchi on April 10, 2002 after the Ceasefire Agreement was signed with UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe mediated by the Norwegian Government.

Over 200 local and foreign reporters who attended this press conference had to go through a 10-hour security screening.

Therefore, his security was of prime concern. It was told that when Prabakaran’s motorcade cross the street, the people were ordered to look the other way.

Prabhakaran’s source of inspiration and direction was to form a separate state a ‘Tamil Eelam’. This led him on a blood letting spree to achieve his goal. The LTTE also proposed the formation of an Interim Self Governing Authority during peace negotiations in 2003.

Prabhakaran has been wanted by Interpol and many other organizations since 1991 for terrorism, murder, organized crime and terrorism conspiracy. He has been issued a death warrant by the Madras High Court in India for plotting and executing the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May, 1991 and in 2002 Judge Ambepitiya issued an open warrant to arrest him in connection with the 1996 Central Bank bombing. The judge found him guilty on 51 counts and sentenced him to 200 years imprisonment.

The LTTE was banned as a terrorist organization in 34 countries including USA, Canada, Britain, India, and Malaysia.

The LTTE leader who was holding civilian hostages to cover himself was shot dead by troops while he was fleeing in an ambulance with his top associates Pottu Amman and Soosai on Monday morning in Periyamullivaikkal.
 

Terrorists all ...

Charles Anthony

Head of the LTTE's Information Technology Division and Air Wing Charles Anthony , 24, is the eldest son of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. He led a series of attacks on military establishments in the country.

The body of Charles Anthony was found by the Security Forces while several terrorists were attempting to evacuate his body. It was reported that he planned the air attack on the Katunayake Air Base on March 26 which claimed the lives of two Sri Lanka Air Force personnel.

He was placed in ranks on par with the deputy leader which created cracks within the outfit. Charles Anthony studied Aeronautics Engineering and Information Technology in England while the youth in the Mullaitivu and Killinochchi were denied their right to education by forcibly conscripting them to its fighting cadres.

Pottu Amman

Sanmugalingam Sivashankar alias Pottu Amman is the Head of the Intelligence Wing of the LTTE

Pottu Amman is in the Interpol's wanted list for his involvement in various terrorist atrocities in Sri Lanka and India. He was indicted by the Jain Commission of India for his involvement in the murder of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Pottu Amman who joined the LTTE in 1983 was the Head of a coastal camp in Vedaranyam in Tamil Nadu where he was kidnapped by the People's Liberation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and later freed in 1983.

He was also in charge of planning LTTE's covert operation and the mastermind behind many operations targetting VIPs and key locations.

Soosai

Thillaiyampalam Sivanesan alias Soosai is the Head of the LTTE's Naval Wing which was established in 1984. Born on October 16, 1963 Soosai joined the terrorist outfit in 1981 with Pottu Amman who was later promoted to the position of Intelligence Wing Leader. He is behind a series of attacks targetting Naval craft.

The Sea Tiger Wing carried out a number of suicide missions targeting Naval craft. Soosai is in the most wanted list of Interpol. The Wattala Magistrate Court has issued arrest warrants on him over charges of terrorism..

P. Nadeshan

P. Nadeshan was the head of the LTTE's Political Wing after S.P. Thamil Selvam was killed by an air strike.

He was a Police Constable of the Sri Lanka Police Department. He was among the LTTE representatives who participated in the negotiations with the Sri Lanka Government in Geneva.

Nadeshan was the Chief of LTTE Police before his appointment as Political Wing Leader and added new wings to the LTTE police during his tenure as Tamil Eelam Police Chief.

He added traffic, crime prevention, crime detection and information bureaus to the LTTE Police. Nadeshan's body was found by the Security Forces during a mop up operation carried out yesterday.

S. Pulidevan

Chief of LTTE's Peace Secretariat S. Pulidevan was also killed by the Security Forces yesterday. Pulidevan along with other terrorists abandoned the Peace Secretariat building in Killnochchi after Security Forces started liberating the territory under the defacto control of the LTTE terrorists.

Ramesh

The LTTE's Special Commander for Batticaloa and Ampara Districts Colonel Thambirajah Ramesh who was killed by the Security Forces yesterday was appointed to Karuna Amman's place as the latter left underground. Ramesh was later removed from the post and Bhanu was appointed to replace Ramesh by the LTTE leader.

CHAMINDA PERERA and RASIKA SOMARATNE