Chennai, Nov 14 (BPNS)
Central Intelligence agencies and Special Branch police of Tamil Nadu are on high alert after the release of six convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The alert is following the now-defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) trying to regroup itself through a series of fundraising initiatives.
The arrest of the former LTTE intelligence operative Satkunam alias Sabesan in October 2021 has revealed the Tamil nationalist movement was trying to revive itself after the setbacks it suffered following the killing its head, Velupillai Prabhakaran.
Satkunam who was a top operative of the LTTE had transferred huge amount of money to a few operatives in Sri Lanka to revive the LTTE and Tamil movement.
NIA investigators were tracking his movement for his arms and drugs trafficking operations from Pakistan, Dubai and Sri Lanka and the proceeds of these smuggling operations were used to fund the LTTE activities. Satkunam, it may be noted was a senior operative of the LTTE and was in the inner circle of V. Prabhakaran and LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman.
The Central intelligence agencies and the state Police are tracing the antecedents of a few people who had contacts with Satkunam and some other former LTTE operatives. The release of the six convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, according to the police and agencies, could become a trigger for the revival of the LTTE in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
Sources in the intelligence told IANS that there are several sleeper cells of the now defunct LTTE in Tamil Nadu as well as in Sri Lanka and the release of the six convicts could lead to increased activity of these sleeper cells.
While the LTTE is now totally defunct, certain former operatives are still nursing the ambition of a greater Tamil nation and with the six convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case now walking free from prison, there could be a flurry of activities among the circles of the former Tamil nationalist movement.
Dr. Annapoorna Sundareshan, a retired professor of International Studies from Chennai college while speaking to BPNS said,” Tamil nationalism and Tamil movements did not start with LTTE nor does it end with LTTE. It is certain that the release of the six convicts in the Rajiv assassination case is much more than what is seen before the eyes and even if these people did not indulge in any activity, there are other underground activists who could be a potential danger.
