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Saturday, August 02, 2008 - 8.28 GMT |
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Arrested LTTE operative came for recruitment
– TN police |
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Thambi Anna alias Thambi Ilamkathir alias
Daniel (46), a key LTTE procurement agent
who was picked up in Chennai by the Q Branch
police on Wednesday, had come to recruit
more suppliers for his network, reported the
Hindu website quoting police sources.
According to police sources, Thambi Anna was
a close associate of Soosai, the head of
'Sea Tigers', the LTTE's naval arm and a top
ranking guerrilla leader. "Thambi Anna was
appointed chief of a procurement module in
2006 by Soosai. He has been coordinating all
major smuggling operations between Tamil
Nadu and Sri Lanka since then," a senior
police official said.
Significantly, Thambi had so far managed to
run the show for the LTTE without ever
visiting Tamil Nadu. He was arrested on what
is believed to be his first visit to the
state. He made the trip he was desperate to
keep the supply lines alive in the wake of a
crackdown by the state police and
interdiction at sea by the island's navy,
the official said.
"We are intercepting their consignments
almost every day. This has significantly
reduced the LTTE's supplies. As they can't
afford to let this situation continue, there
may have been pressure on him to boost the
supply mechanism," another official said.
"In a sign of their desperation, a group of
suspected LTTE men intercepted by the police
even asked the cops to shoot them, but to
allow the consignment to go. That shows how
desperate they are to get things across the
sea," the official said.
"We consider the arrest of Thambi a big
achievement. He has been coordinating the
procurement of materials from Tamil Nadu,"
Director General of Police K P Jain said.
Thambi had come to Rameswaram in a Sri
Lankan boat on July 1. He then went to
Tiruvarur and proceeded to Chennai, where he
wanted to set up a network for procurement
of many items.
He had met many people and used a local SIM
card.
He also wanted to shift the smuggling base
to coastal towns like Adhirampattinam,
Mallipattinam, Devipattinam and
Kottaipattinam in Thanjavur and Pudukkottai
districts, the official said.
The Q Branch of Tamil Nadu police see his
involvement in more than 30 cases in the
state. He and his men had smuggled
everything from explosive materials to
chemicals.
Dozens of incidents in the last one year
have shown that the LTTE was falling back on
the state for its supplies after suffering a
series of defeats in sea battles against the
Lankan navy.
The Tigers lost many logistic vessels used
in the transportation of arms and supplies.
The recent loss of Vidattaltivu, a major Sea
Tiger base in Mannar on the western coast of
Sri Lanka, had further added to their woes,
the website added.
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