Army, yesterday (11th April) confirmed that 'Gopi', the suspected new leader of LTTE, has been shot dead in Nedunkarni, Vavuniya last night.
Along with him, two other LTTE suspects have also been shot dead by the Army. One of the LTTE suspects has been identified as 'Appan', a close associate of 'Gobi'. Both of them were on the wanted list of Police for their alleged involvement in terrorist activities.
Army said it had to open fire at suspected LTTE members when they attempted to escape after firing gunshots at the Army team who conducted the search operation.
The dead bodies have been recovered this morning. Former members of the LTTE, Gopi and Appan, were believed to be trained by 'Pottu Amman', former Leader of the LTTE Intelligence Unit.
A Lance Corporal of the SL Army was also killed last night during the clash.
Gopi, according to the Army, was directly responsible for opening fire at a Police team in Dharmapuram, Kilinochchi last month.
Four killed: Govt. sees bid to revive LTTE
The manhunt for a former Tiger guerrilla cadre Selvanayagam Kajeepan alias Gopi ended in the Nedunkerni jungles in Mullaitivu on Friday when he was shot dead by troops, a military official said. The official who did not wish to be identified said that also killed in the incident was Sunderalingam Kajeepan alias Thevian , another guerrilla cadre and a third person yet to be identified. He said they were members of the militarily defeated LTTE.
In a separate incident, 26-year-old Army soldier Kamal Raj was also killed in the same vicinity during a military exercise, the official said. The soldier is from Kurunegala. The military official discounted reports that the soldier’s death was related to the incident involving the other two persons. Gopi and Theviyan were from Kilinochchi. The military official said Gopi was wanted in connection with last month’s shooting of a police sergeant attached to the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID). “Since then he was on the run,” he said.
Gopi was last known to be hiding in a house where a mother and her 13 year old daughter lived, the military official said. The two were arrested by the Police. After they were produced before the Vavuniya Magistrate, the mother, Balendran Jeyakumari (48) was ordered to be detained at Boosa under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Her daughter Vibooshika (13) was ordered to be placed in a children’s home.
Theviyan, the military official said, had returned from a foreign country recently. He said the Police had been on the lookout for him since it had come to light that he was a Tiger guerrilla cadre. Both had been hiding in the jungle, the official said.A one-million-rupee reward was offered for each of the suspects the military was looking for.
Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry issued a statement on the incident. The statement said:
“An attempt for resurgence of terrorism in Sri Lanka surfaced in general area Pallai in the Jaffna Peninsula calling for launching of another phase of the LTTE struggle for a separate state. The information on several key suspects who were leading the campaign for resurgence of the LTTE also surfaced. Investigators made several arrests that led to recovery of arms, ammunitions, explosives and other material that were in their possession.
“An attempt for resurgence of terrorism in Sri Lanka surfaced in general area Pallai in the Jaffna Peninsula calling for launching of another phase of the LTTE struggle for a separate state. The information on several key suspects who were leading the campaign for resurgence of the LTTE also surfaced. Investigators made several arrests that led to recovery of arms, ammunitions, explosives and other material that were in their possession.
“It was also revealed that this local group was functioning under the instructions of LTTE leaders Nediyawan and Vinayagam who are based in Europe. They were preparing the ground for another armed struggle. Immediate objectives of the local group included the recovery or warlike material dumped by the LTTE during retreat, re-establishment of LTTE intelligence network, regrouping of the potential cadre including those rehabilitated, collecting information on potential targets including in other provinces.
“Investigations revealed that the funds for these activities that came from Europe were being transferred using Hawala system which is an illegal system for money transfer widely used in the subcontinent. It was also revealed that many safe houses, vehicles and other resources required for resurgence of the LTTE had been procured by them using this money.
“Three local leaders in the attempted resurgence of the LTTE were identified as Sundaralingam Kajeepan @ Thevihan (who was involved in aerial attacks on Anuradhapura Air Base and Kollonnawa Petroleum Storage in 2007), Selvanayagam Kajeepan @ Gobi, Navarathnam Navaneethan @ Appan. Investigators trailing these local leaders made several arrests of second and third tier cadre. In one attempt on 13 March 2014 one of the suspected leaders known as Gobi escaped after shooting a police officer.
“Volume of information that came pouring from the peace loving local public who did not approve of any attempt of resurgence of the LTTE helped investigations in a large measure. The general area where the three leaders, i.e Thevihan, Gobi and Appan were hiding was identified. On 10 April 2014 troops in a search operation in the jungle area off Padaviya recovered four back-packs containing rations, medicine, cloths, etc… believed to be used by the suspects.
“The identified area was surrounded. In the early hours of 11 April 2014 three armed suspects who attempted to escape the area confronted the troops in the cordon. All three were killed and two of the dead were later identified as Sundaralingam Kajeepan @ Thevihan, and Selvanayagam Kajeepan @ Gobi. The third is yet to be identified, but is believed to be that of Navaratnam Navaneethan @ Appan.
“Judicial inquiry into this incident is in progress”.
“Judicial inquiry into this incident is in progress”.
Sources: Sunday Times and Asian Mirror
