More Insight to KP arrest

Earlier yesterday the state department reported quoting military sources as saying a top LTTE official has been arrested The identity of the Tiger who was arrested was however not reveled. The suspect is believed to have carried out several key attacks in the country.

Following this story the Daily Mirror published on the arrest of KP in their report it was stated.

LTTE’s self appointed leader after the annihilation of its top leadership and the organization’s long term international arms procurer Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP had been arrested in an East Asian country following a joint intelligence and military operation by a Sri Lankan team, defence sources confirmed last night.

Government Defence Spokesman and Minister Keheliya Rambukwella speaking to Rupavahini last night confirmed the arrest of KP and said it was a big blow to the remaining foreign network of the LTTE.

According to defence sources the arrest had been made following weeks long intelligence operation in East Asia by several teams from Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan intelligence and military teams with the help of authorities in those countries had arrested and interrogated several LTTE operatives in East Asia who had been in contact with Pathmanathan. KP had been arrested on Wednesday night based on information extracted from them.

The state television Rupavahini broke the news last night and announced that Kumaran Pathmanathan had been arrested. Fifty four year old Pathmanathan is on Interpol’s most wanted list for various charges including arms smuggling and criminal conspiracy. He is also wanted by India in connection with the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and for violation of the Terrorist Act and the Indian Explosive Act.

Pathmanathan was one of the top LTTE officials and the chief procurer of arms for the organization. He ran a global network of LTTE offices which were engaged in its weapons procurement, logistics and money laundering operations. Initially based in Malaysia, where he set up a shipping company in 1987, he was forced to move out after the Malaysian Special Branch cracked down on LTTE activities in the country in 1990, culminating in the seizure of an LTTE ship the same year. Pathmanathan then moved to Thailand, which became a safe haven for the LTTE. There he established himself as the head of banking, procurement and shipping for the LTTE. He is believed to have obtained citizenship of Thailand.

On an earlier occasion in 2007 there were conflicting reports from Thailand that Pathmanathan had been arrested on September 11, 2007. The reports were preceded by the detention in Ranong Province of three other LTTE operatives the month before, for trying to buy guns and 45,000 rounds of ammunition. However a number of Thai officials refuted the reports, claiming they had no information about such an arrest.

Meanwhile a top level LTTE cadre wanted in connection with LTTE activities in Colombo including several bomb attacks and assassinations was arrested by police in Wellawatte yesterday.

The arrest was made by the police Western Province Intelligence Unit. A suicide jacket, a claymore mine and other military items had been discovered by police in his possession.

KP being questioned in Colombo

Basil Rajapaksa as saying KP was flown down to Colombo following his arrest although details of how arrest was conducted was not revealed.

Meanwhile respected columnist D.B.S Jeyaraj, in a posting on his blog site said that according to informed sources KP was staying in Kuala Lumpur(KL) , Malaysia when taken into custody.Pathmanathan had met with two visitors from London, England at a hotel room in KL in the afternoon of August 5th.

He had received a call on his cellular phone. KP had then signaled to his visitors that he was going out to the corridor and walked away while conversing on the phone.

He had not returned for a long time and the when the worried visitors from Britain went out in search there was no sign of the new global tiger chief.
Meanwhile the friend who had been talking to KP on the phone had heard a sudden thud and some noise while chatting. The phone went dead and repeated calls were not successful.

The friend then alerted some assistants of KP in Malaysia who went in search of KP to the place where he was staying in KL. The place was empty but KP’s insulin and syringes and other medical stuff was still there.

The visitors from London also got alarmed and contacted circles close to KP.
Meanwhile KP seized in Malaysia was taken to Bangkok in Thailand.Sri Lankan authorities were contacted and a team from the Police Terrorist Investigation Department flew to Bangkok in the early hours of Thurasday August 6th.

The team returned with Pathmanathan alias KP on a special flight on the same day.KP was handcuffed and had a mask covering his head and face when disembarking from the plane at Katunayake Airport.He was whisked away in a vehicle with tinted glasses to a high‐security , secret location run by the terrorism investigation dept personnel.KP is to be interrogated intensively by Sri Lankan anti‐terrorist sleuths.

It is widely believed that the arrest was made possible through “inside information” supplied by some members of the LTTE abroad who were opposed to KP donning the tiger leadership mantle after the demise of supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran.In more latest news published 

Thai PM orders probe over KP arrest

Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Friday that he has ordered the country’s security agencies to provide details following a news report that the head of Sri Lanka’s recently defeated Tamil Tiger separatists was captured in Thailand.

The French news agency Agence‐France‐Presse (AFP) earlier reported that Selvarasa Pathmanathan, a foreign‐based leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was returned to Sri Lanka on Thursday for questioning after being arrested in Thailand.

Mr Pathmanathan assumed the leadership of LTTE overall following the death of its supreme leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, in the separatist organisation’s last stand against Sri Lankan security forces in mid‐May.

The Thai premier said that he was informed of the matter late Thursday night and he had assigned the security agencies to seek more details. Acting Government Spokesman Panitan Wattanayakorn said that an initial report said that Pathmanathan had travelled in and out of Thailand but it was not identified where he was arrested.

Mr Panitan, however, noted that Mr Pathmanathan reportedly was married to a Thai and lived in the northern part of the country.Meanwhile, Thailand’s Special Branch police chief Theeradej Rodphothong said that the LTTE head was captured in Singapore, not in Thailand.

Lt‐Gen Theeradej noted that Thailand was mentioned in the news report becuase the LTTE head formerly had a Thai wife and he usually moved among three Southeast Asian countries‐‐Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. 

In a story published on BBC

The Tamil Tiger rebels’ new leader, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, has been arrested in a south‐east Asian country.

Sri Lanka’s defence secretary told the BBC that Mr Pathmanathan, better known as KP, was arrested on Wednesday. A military spokesman said the rebel leader had been brought to Sri Lanka and was being questioned. 

The rebels have confirmed the arrest. Mr Pathmanathan became the leader of the remnants of the Tigers after their defeat in May by Sri Lankan forces.
Earlier reports from Sri Lankan military officials suggested the arrest took place in Thailand, but Bangkok later denied them. 

A pro‐rebel website said Mr Pathmanathan was abducted from Kualalumpur, and blamed Sri Lankan and Malaysian intelligence for the disappeance of the LTTE leader

He was wanted on two Interpol warrants

Earlier, Sri Lanka’s Defence Minister, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, told the BBC that the new Tamil Tiger leader had been arrested, but he did not elaborate on the circumstances surrounding his capture. Mr Pathmanathan was widely believed to be running the rebels’ arms and smuggling networks for years.

But he took over the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after the former head, Velupillai Prabhakaran, and his top commanders were killed during the military offensive in north‐eastern Sri Lanka in May. As the new rebel leader, Mr Pathmanathan said the LTTE had decided to silence their guns and would try non‐violent methods to achieve their goal of a separate state for the Tamil minority. 

Analysts say his arrest has created a vacuum among the moderate elements within the LTTE supporters living overseas.  Nevertheless, Mr Pathmanathan’s arrest is a significant blow for the LTTE. He is also wanted in India in connection with the assassination of the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, by a suspected Tamil female suicide bomber, in 1991.