LTTE terror wing being revived in Europe by Vinayakam: Expert

While a tribunal in India has upheld the government’s decision to continue the ban on the LTTE saying that it is still alive and kicking, Sri Lankan experts have come out with the finding that a top military and intelligence functionary of the outfit, going by the nom de guerre ‘Vinayakam’, is actively engaged in reviving the armed struggle in the island nation from several bases in Europe.

“Vinayakam is the most dangerous man. He is the top most LTTE military wing leader still at large. He is an unprecedented threat to Sri Lanka because he has experience of operating in south Lanka, and organising several assassinations and bombing missions there,” said Prof Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) in Singapore.

“He is moving about with astonishing ease in Europe. The Lankan government is well aware of his intentions and plans. Such a man should be arrested,” Gunaratna told Express.

The Lankan army had believed that Vinayakam was killed in its assault on the LTTE’s naval base at Chalai on the Mullaitivu coast in February 2009. But he was not among the dead, Gunaratna told Indian Express.