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Evidence pointing to Tiger build-up
A senior Criminal Investigation Department (CID) detective mounted a brand new telescope on a rifle and took aim from a window in the fourth floor of their headquarters in the New Secretariat building in Fort. The weapon was not loaded. He was testing the effectiveness of the new telescope. What he saw shocked him. As he pointed it towards a guard standing near a quay at the Colombo harbour, some 200 metres away, a tiny red dot appeared. That seemed confirmation that his aim was sure on target. For a guerrilla, that would have been an easy way of eliminating a person. This brand new telescope was just one of eight seized by alert Customs men at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) last Monday. They were among a consignment of war-like items Sivasubramaniam Shivashankar tried to smuggle into the country. Other items included ten night vision binoculars (a new product with electronic devices attached to measure distances), 12 torch lights meant to be mounted on rifles, five combat knives (the type used for removing landmines) and two packages containing equipment to be used in target practice. Besides being usable in a firing range, this piece of equipment also had accessories to enable a download into computers, again for target practice. Twenty-three-year-old Mr. Shivashankar arrived in a Qatar Airways flight from Doha last Monday. Though his origins were from the North, he held a Danish passport. He had spent days in Germany and had boarded a flight from Munich to Doha and thereafter to Colombo. He pretended he had nothing to declare and was walking through the Green Channel when alert Customs officials moved in. The youth and the contraband were handed over to the CID. Mr Shivashankar first told the Customs and thereafter CID detectives that he had brought the war-like items to be given to a person. He was going to collect it from him in Colombo. The goods had been given to him by his father. Surprising enough he neither knew the name nor the identity of the person who was going to take delivery. Detectives were not convinced by his explanation. All five types of contraband he tried to smuggle were meant for military use. They are convinced the goods were meant for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In fact, Mr. Shivashankar had planned to travel to the north. He has now been detained under Emergency Regulations whilst the CID has expanded its investigations. Help has been sought from the Interpol Headquarters in Lyons (France) and its branch in Germany to ascertain whether security breaches led to Mr. Shivashankar's baggage being cleared at the Munich airport. It had been interlined to Colombo and hence there had been no requirement for him to check in again at Doha. Concerns have been raised about other former northern residents, now holding foreign passports, walking past the green channel with similar contraband. This has led to a Customs high alert. Concerns have been raised in state intelligence circles about what they suspect to be an unfolding pattern. They believe some of the funds raised during overseas visits were being used to procure war-like items from different countries. One time northern residents, now living abroad, were being used by LTTE cells in those countries to smuggle them into Sri Lanka. It was only on January 26, this year, Paskara Sivaji Sudhakaran, now a Swiss passport holder, was detected by Customs at the BIA with 25 Maglite head-mounted torch lights, knives used for combat and other items. (The Sunday Times - Situation Report March 12). He was accompanied by Sathasivam Kalaiselvi, now a Swiss passport holder. Mr. Sudhakaran was released only the next day after he paid a fine of Rs 100,000. The goods were confiscated. Even
the LTTE delegation for the Geneva peace talks in February, this
year, had in their baggage 60 Maglite head-mounted torch lights
and 14 digital cameras. Customs also found catalogues on a variety
of sniper rifles, assault rifles, small arms and night vision glasses.
The detections were made when the delegation arrived in Colombo
en route to Kilinochchi. The operation began on Thursday after reports that a suspicious ship was some 170 nautical miles off Pulmoddai (north Trincomalee). Later, an Air Force Beechcraft reconnaissance flight reported that a ten metre long ship, located some 176 nautical miles away, was speeding in a south-easterly direction away from Sri Lanka. The ship, said to be some ten metres long, had been maintaining an average speed of 18 to 20 knots. Was the ship veering away from Sri Lanka after becoming aware that the authorities would intercept them? The endurance, and thus the time for travel for naval craft, was inadequate to give chase to the speeding vessel. Some friendly countries whose navies are operating in the Indian Ocean region were alerted. In the light of this, Navy Headquarters in Colombo launched special operations in the deep seas to prevent possible attempts at smuggling of defence supplies. Navy's gunboat "SLNS Jayasagara" was despatched to the deep seas south of Mannar yesterday with orders to check trawlers in the area. A Colombo Dockyard built brand new Dvora fast attack craft (431) approached a trawler some 15 nautical miles off the shores south of Puttalam. As it closed in to some ten metres away from a trawler (a multi day fishing vessel), a huge explosion hit the FAC. It broke into pieces and sank. Fishermen recovered 11 persons including the commanding officer of the FAC, Lt. Commander Chaminda Navaratne. They were brought to the village of Battalangunduwa, south of Kalpitiya. They were later airlifted to Colombo and some were undergoing medical treatment. President Mahinda Rajapaksa cut short a tour of the south where he was campaigning for the local polls. He returned to Colombo in an Air Forcehelicopter last night. Hard evidence that the LTTE was still engaged in inducting weapons shipments to Sri Lanka followed the Navy's arrest in the high seas last Wednesday of five persons. At least three of them have now been identified as top rung guerrilla intelligence cadres. During a series of debriefs with security authorities, it was one of them who gave details of their mission - to facilitate unloading operations at high seas and smuggle them through the north east coast dominated by guerrillas. The defence supplies were to be brought ashore in trawlers which would have mingled with others which were at sea fishing. More importantly, it was one of the suspects who gave details of the possible location of the suspected ship. The story of their chance detection and the subsequent findings lays bare a new guerrilla modus operandi. This is how it began: It was around 8 p.m. last Wednesday (March 22) when a Dvora fast attack craft (FAC) of the Northern Area Naval Command (headquartered in Kankesanthurai or KKS) was returning to base after more than 12 hours of duty. That was at Operation Waruna Kirana - the permanent naval blockade in the north-east, introduced on May 25, 2001. It extends from the shores off Delft (off the Jaffna peninsula) and to Vakarai (in the Batticaloa district) in the east. Lt. Cmdr. T. Bandara was in command of Dvora (473). There was a member (Mr. Denis) of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) on board. Some 20 nautical miles east of Point Pedro, he observed a big echo on the FAC radar. There was what appeared to be a fishing trawler. He chose to get close and check the vessel. He observed that the trawler was moving away from the northern coast into deeper seas. Upon getting closer, Lt. Cmdr. Bandara and his men found a newly painted trawler that bore the name "Priyanka Duwa." There were five men on board. They spoke fluent Sinhala and explained they had come all the way from Negombo for fishing. Though multi-day fishing vessels often frequented the area, men on board the FAC were suspicious. They radioed their headquarters in Kankesanthurai for instructions. As has been the practice during the casefire, the men avoided boarding the trawler precipitating a incident. The FAC was told to escort the trawler to KKS. This meant a voyage of some six to seven hours. The trawler was moving only at five knots per hour. Yet, the Navy men kept escorting them. It was some five nautical miles off Point Pedro when Navy personnel suspected foul play. The men on the trawler were complaining that the vessel was about to sink. The five on board were immediately taken on board Dvora (473). Later two Navy sailors boarded the trawler. One of them reported that the cooling water line and the battery in the trawler had been removed. Sea water was gushing in and the trawler showed signs of sinking. It was 2 a.m. on Thursday morning. It became clear the men on board had tried to sink the trawler after they failed to explode it. The two Navy sailors went to work fixing the battery, repairing the cooling water line. Then they started the engine. Then they went on to check what was in the trawler. There were two explosive charges hidden. It appeared that the men on board had tried to explode the vessel but failed. There were 125 bottles of mineral water and dry rations (rice, dhal etc) enough for use by five persons for a whole month. There were 50 kilos of fish but some had rotten. Among the other items on board were two cases of beer and empty bottles of arrack. A high frequency radio communications set, concealed in an area in the trawler, tuned to an LTTE frequency crackled every now and then. In the meanwhile the Northern Naval Area Headquarters in KKS had despatched two more Dvora fast attack craft to rendezvous with the Dvora (473). Thereafter, a third with a senior Navy officer on board had followed suit also from KKS. It was 6 a.m. on Thursday when the naval craft and the trawler, now established to be one acquired by the LTTE, entered Northern Naval Area Headquarters in KKS. Naval authorities allowed a request by the SLMM to first interview the five persons. Thereafter, an initial debrief was carried out by the Navy. The men who were found in the trawler would only say they were "going to do something" and were "awaiting instructions on the radio." By Thursday evening they were handed over to the Kankesanthurai Police. Army and Navy officers were on hand with the Police when the five were subject to detailed interrogation. One of them, who is now being described as a top LTTE intelligence operative, bared some stunning details including the fact that the LTTE was expecting defence supplies by a ship that week. Some of the confessions were of a sensitive nature and laid bare to the authorities the plans of the LTTE. The five men have been identified as Uppu Lohappan Francis Manohara (30) of Iranativu (off Nachchikuda in the Mannar District), Podiappu Subasena (50) of Valachchenai (Batticaloa district), Weerasingham Maheswaran (42) of China Bay, Trincomalee, Muthuvel Sriskandarajah (42) of China Bay, Trincomalee and Arunachalam David (42) of China Bay, Trincomalee. Barring one intelligence operative, interrogation of the five suspects by the Police has revealed that they were under the influence of liquor when they were detected. This appeared unusual since liquor was taboo for guerrilla cadres. At least one of the suspects had been trying to make out that this was a ploy to show they were genuine fishermen. However, disclosures of the origins of the voyage in the trawler have prompted the authorities to widen their investigations. The five men have confessed that they began their voyage from Negombo. This was after they were told to report to a local businessman who made available to them a freshly painted trawler with the name "Priyanka Duwa." In that vessel they had set out from Negombo, travelled past the waters off Chilaw and crossed the sand banks in the Gulf of Mannar. They had then entered the Palk Straits and crossed the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) between Sri Lanka and India to proceed in the waters east of Point Pedro. The Police were yesterday expected to seek a Detention Order from the Ministry of Defence under the ongoing Emergency Regulations. Thereafter, the five are to be brought down to Colombo for further interrogation. This is expected to be significant in view of some important confessions made by the intelligence cadres. If a chance discovery of the trawler helped the security authorities to thwart LTTE's latest move to smuggle in defence supplies, in the eastern seas an equally disturbing situation was worrying the defence establishment in Colombo. A string of incidents in the recent weeks in the seas off Trincomalee has raised questions whether the guerrillas were trying to provoke the armed forces into a confrontation just weeks ahead of the second round of talks in Geneva. Some
of the incidents give an idea: March 20: Two suspected Sea Tiger boats headed from Sampur (overlooking the Trincomalee harbour mouth area) towards Koddiyar Bay (where the Mahaweli River joins the sea). This is a restricted zone and no boat movements are allowed. Two Inshore Patrol Craft (IPC) of the Navy moved into check what was going on. They were fired upon. They returned fire in self defence. When the IPCs were closing in, six men each in the two boats beached and got away. March 21: Naval craft on routine patrol in the restricted zone observed two suspected Sea Tiger boats near Sampur. One with five persons on board opened fire at the naval craft, moved towards the shores and beached. Thereafter the five fled. The second boat also opened fire. The Navy has complained to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission that this incident was a ceasefire violation. March 22: Two naval craft with two SLMM representatives (Marvin Ingolfsson and Odd Hogne Langoy) on board were on routine patrol in the restricted zone at Koddiyar Bay. They spotted a fibre glass dinghy (FGB) moving in the area and wanted to get close. They were stopped by the SLMM members who did not want the Navy to keep a distance of one nautical mile. Navy men said they spotted the FGD beaching at Fisherman's Rock and later moved towards Sampur. However, the SLMM had declared they were unable to confirm whether the FGD was one belonging to the LTTE or not though it was observed in the restricted zone. These incidents have occurred in the general area outside the strategic Trincomalee harbour where the Navy's Eastern Naval Area headquarters is located. It is no secret that the bulk of troops and supply movements to the north are carried out from Trincomalee. For well over a year now, the LTTE has been consolidating its position in the Sampur area that overlooks the harbour mouth. It is known to have positioned artillery and mortars facing the harbour mouth in an attempt to cripple the working of the port in times of hostility. Though this raised serious concerns in the security establishment, the ongoing ceasefire prevented the adoption of any measures to deal with this situation. In
the meantime, the guerrillas have been accusing the Army of conniving
with paramilitary groups to carry out an attack on their defended
localities in Poonagar in Eechalampattu in the Trincomalee district.
The Army strongly denied the charge and declared such statements
were only part of attempts to provoke them. They accused the LTTE
of directing fire at the Mahindapura camp, again with the objective
of provoking them to retaliate. On the night of March 23, the Army
said, rounds of small arms fire were directed at this camp in the
night. It said a protest had been lodged with the SLMM. One Tiger
guerrilla cadre is reported to have died in the incident in Eechalampattu
whilst two others had been injured. All offices, business establishments, schools and other institutions were closed. Among other matters, it was intended to demand that the Government enforces decisions made at the Geneva talks in February, lift fishing restrictions in the north-eastern seas and protest against alleged Navy firing in Sampur. The recent events that have unfurled have prompted the defence establishment also to adopt immediate measures. One significant development this week was the re-naming of the country's premier intelligence agency, the Directorate of Internal Intelligence (DII). In future it will be called State Intelligence Service (SIS). Earlier, the Directorate of Foreign Intelligence (DFI) which functioned as a separate intelligence agency was merged with the DII. Its functions will now come under the new SIS. More changes are likely as the Ministry of Defence embarks on streamlining intelligence gathering to keep up with the growing threats to national security. Despite the many threats, clearly "psy war" and posturing to the media, the LTTE is making strong preparations for the next round of talks in the CFA in Geneva. A gamut of issues is now being prepared. According to intelligence sources, one of the main allegation for which material is now being gathered by the LTTE is the failure by the Government to enforce decisions made at the last round of talks in February. This is particularly over the Government's failure to disarm paramilitary groups. The Government already has the answers. Such groups, it says, do not operate within Government-controlled areas. Would
that lead to the two sides getting bogged down over this contentious
issue? Will such a situation enable another round of talks after
April? These are just a few of the many questions that arise. |
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