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Innocent
civilians pay the price
The
LTTE is reported to have killed 160 civilians and injured
over 700 in Colombo and the suburbs, as well as in the rest
of the country, during the period from January to June, this
year (2008).
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Children, women, old and young people are the victims. The
victims are not only the majority Sinhalese, but also Tamils,
Muslims and Burghers.
Human rights organisations keep ‘mum’
When the LTTE massacred innocent civilians in Sri Lanka,
some of the human rights groups based in Sri Lanka and overseas,
did not condemn those brutal attacks. Human rights organisations,
which voice concern, on behalf of women and children are mum,
when children and pregnant women die in bomb explosions.
The question arises, why these organisations are silent.
Elilan force
LTTE has masterminded the attacks on politicians, military,
civilians, as well as on economic hubs. Elilan force is one
arm of the LTTE, responsible for a large number of such attacks.
Members of the Elilan force infiltrated Colombo and its suburbs
and the rest of the country, during the ceasefire periods
and smuggled in explosives and weapons. When the appropriate
time comes and orders are received from above, members of
the Elilan force will carry out instructions given by their
leaders.
The Elilan force receives assistance from LTTE intelligence,
to conduct their missions.
The Elilan force is said to be composed of groups of seven
members each. Each member does not know, who the others in
the group are. A leader is in charge of these seven members
and this leader has to report to his regional leader. The
leader and the rest of the members receive necessary instructions
from Kilinochchi.
Members of the Elilan force include both males and females
and most of the members can speak Sinhala and English fluently.
According to information, they possess two Identity cards,
with Sinhalese and Muslim names on them. They are warned by
the LTTE, to avoid visits to any kovils or to associate any
Tamils and are clearly instructed to talk in Sinhala and associate
Sinhalese and live in Sinhalese houses, for which they generally
pay big sums, as rent.
Elilan force members are generally employed as marketing executives
and sales representatives, in IT related jobs and as shop
assistants in Colombo and the suburbs, as well as in the other
parts of the island, while some are engaged as small time
businessmen, while others, who are intelligence cadres, pose
as beggars.
The LTTE does not wish to use its satellite phones, to contact
these members who live in Colombo or its suburbs or in the
rest of the country, because it is well known that, Sri Lankan
intelligence officials can detect, where the calls originate
and their missions could be disturbed.
Calls are made to members from a base in the United Kingdom.
Intelligence officials have revealed that, the LTTE uses UK
roaming numbers. When security forces arrested some of these
members and seized their mobile phones, the incoming numbers
registered on the phones were said to be, UK numbers.
According to the latest intelligence reports, the LTTE has
decided to attack both military and civilian targets in the
South and disrupt civilian life, as much as possible. The
LTTE plans to attack several major towns simultaneously.
Not only the Elilan force, but LTTE Black Tiger suicide squad
cadres and intelligence cadres are active in and around Colombo,
in their bid to target high profile politicians or high ranking
military officers.
LTTE intelligence activity
LTTE Intelligence was collecting and passing on information,
for more than three years, to plan the Katunayake International
Air Port attack. The LTTE’s intelligence gathering is
sophisticated and advanced. They use modern communication
devices, such as, e mail, Internet chat and satellite phones,
to contact their cadres .
The LTTE’s main strategy for implementing their Colombo
plans are very complete. They have invested a lot of money
in Colombo, hiring Tamil businessmen, with two conditions.
One was a percentage of their profit being put into LTTE accounts,
annually. The second was that, any person sent by the LTTE,
from the Wanni or any other LTTE dominated area, should be
engaged in their mission, without any conditions. Thus, anybody
sent from the Wanni, should work as intelligence officers
for the LTTE. Their task was simply to collect information
on their enemies or be silent, till the day, they are asked
to carry out some mission. For example, the Black Tigers who
carry out their missions, should stay for sometime in their
places, till they receive orders to carry out their missions.
Has Intelligence services in Sri Lanka been monitoring this
kind of Tiger strategy and started taking counter-measures
against such terrorist activities?
LTTE objectives of attacking civilians
The LTTE leadership hopes to achieve two objectives,
by attacking civilian targets. One is to force the Government
to strengthen security in the South, by pulling out armed
forces from the battlefront and allocating them to the South.
The other objective is to whip up communal feelings in the
South, by attacking civilians. If communal riots erupt, the
LTTE will try to gain sympathy from the international community
for the Tamils.
SIS in action
Meanwhile, State intelligence Service (SIS) officers arrested
two Black Tigers and four cadres, including one woman and
seized C-4 explosives, weighing around 2.7 kg from them on
June 12. At the moment, investigations are in progress, but
no further comments can be made, as they could hamper the
ongoing investigation.
Up country LTTE explosives and arms detected by TID
A Christian pastor, who resided in Mannar has been employed
to transport explosives and other war-related items, to Colombo
and the rest of the country.
Pastor Arumugam Nagulan accompanied one Velupillai Kandan
on February 2 and left him at a place in Mabole, in Wattala.
Kandan’s suspicious movements were noticed by two Civil
Defence Force members, who stopped him and checked the bag,
he was carrying. One claymore mine, two suicide kits, eight
detonators and a timer were found in the bag.
Civil Defence Force personnel arrested the suspect and handed
him over to the police, who in turn handed him over to the
Terrorist Investigation Division (TID).
TID detectives interrogated Kandan, who confessed that, he
was brought by Pastor Nagulan. TID officers arrested Pastor
Nagulan at Chilaw, on a tip-off.
At the Saliyawewa roadblock in Chilaw, police arrested Pastor
Nagulan, who was driving his Toyota Dolphin van bearing number
57 -7399. He was brought to Colombo under heavy escort.
Under interrogation Pastor Nagulan told TID detectives that,
the LTTE transported explosives and other material from Veditaltivu
in Mannar north to Mannar, via sea. Thereafter, the explosives
and suicide kits were transported to Colombo and the rest
of the country. He told TID detectives that, during the ceasefire
period, he transported explosives and suicide kits to Kandy,
Nuwara Eliya and the South. He further told the detectives
that, his vehicle was not checked, because under the CFA agreement,
anybody was free to travel anywhere in the country. He said
that, during that period, the LTTE took maximum advantage.
Acting on Pastor Nagulan’s information TID detectives
were able to uncover 300 kilos of high powered explosives;
TNT, 12 kilos of C4 explosives from Nuwara Eliya.
There are a significant number of parcel bombs and claymore
bombs detected by the Security Forces on information provided
by vigilant civilians. See the graphic.
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Undisclosed
story of Pottu Amman
The
above explosions conducted by LTTE and Elilan force were directly
commanded by LTTE Intelligence leader Pottu Amman,according
to sources from kilinochchi.
Who is Pottu Amman? How did he join the LTTE? Where was he
trained? These are some of the questions, people would want
answers.
The brains behind each and every suicide mission, VIP assassination
mission and bombing conducted by the LTTE, is LTTE intelligence
chief Shanmugalingam Sivashankar, alias Pottu Amman.
Fluent in Tamil, Sinhala and English, he was born in Ariyalai,
in the Jaffna peninsula. He is currently on the wanted list
of Interpol for terrorism. He has been indicted by the Indian
Government’s Jain Commission for involvement in the assassination
of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He was accused
by renegade leader Karuna, of having undue influence over
Prabhakaran.
Pottu Amman is the head of the intelligence wing of the LTTE
and is also the head of the Black Tiger quad. He joined the
LTTE in March 1981, along with Sea Tiger leader Soosai and
is second in the LTTE’s military wing.
Pottu Amman was trained in Tamil Nadu and was later the head
of a coastal camp in Vedaranayam, in Tamil Nadu, from where
he was kidnapped by rival PLOTTE cadres and later freed in
1985. He is also believed to be in charge of planning the
LTTE’s covert operations and is the brains behind most
of the LTTE’s successful military operations and is also
seen as a hardliner. Pottu Amman is known for his military
expertise. He is an introvert, who is rarely seen in public.
Pottu Amman joined the military wing of the LTTE at its inception.
Prabhakaran noticing Pottu Amman’s extraordinary talents,
during his training period in India and knowing very well
the importance of intelligence, is reported to have got a
retired Indian intelligence official to train Pottu Amman,
in intelligence work. It is also reported that, an intelligence
expert in a Western country, trained Pottu Amman. Afterwards,
Pottu Amman built up his own intelligence network, according
to his likes.
At present, Pottu Amman does not stay permanently in one place.
He lives in an underground bunker, in Mullaitivu or Kilinochchi
and there is a specially trained team to provide security
to him.
Pottu Amman wears civilian clothes and does not wear military
attire, except, when there is an important function to attend.
He has a separate set of people to assist him in his intelligence
work, in Sri Lanka, as well as overseas.
As a habit, he is extra careful about his meals. Whenever
he travels, he takes a hot water bottle and his meals are
specially cooked by one of his aides. He does not travel in
one vehicle, often changing vehicles, for security reasons.
He likes to watch war movies and is a keen reader downloading
articles from the Internet, especially, articles regarding
the LTTE and also those on current affairs.
Within the LTTE, he is known as a hot tempered person, dedicated
to his work.
Pottu Amman is said to wake early in the morning around 4.30
a.m. and reads intelligence reports, sent by his regional
leaders. He sleeps around 11.00 p.m. He always meets his regional
intelligence leaders one by one and gives necessary instructions.
He advises his regional leaders to collect maximum information
about military officers and economic hubs in Colombo, to facilitate
his military operations.
Pottu Amman visits Black Tiger training centres in Puthukkudiyiruppu,
in Mullaitivu and in Kilinochchi, twice a week, to inspect
them, as well as to give instructions, to recruit more youth
to the Black Tiger squad.
He did not allow any senior LTTE leader, except the late Balraj,
to get close to Prabhakaran. Pottu Amman was very smart at
telling tales about LTTE seniors like Mahendraraja, Mahattaya,
Yogi and Karuna, who tried to get close to Prabhakaran.
Mahattaya was assassinated. Karuna broke away from the LTTE
and Yogi was sidelined.
Pottu Amman is also in charge of the pro-LTTE website, TamilNet.
If the Sri Lankan security forces can eliminate Pottu Amman,
it would be a big achievement, because, he is the brain behind
many LTTE missions.
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