7:44 AM

Two LTTE operatives arrested in South Indian

A close relative of Soosai , the leader of Sea Tigers, rudimentary marine wing of the LTTE and another hard core Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) member have been arrested by the Tamil Nadu authorities for building Indian Rupees 4.2 million worth boat in the South Indian state of Kerala.

Indian intelligence sources have indicated that the boat mostly finished in a Kerala boatyard near Kochin harbour was ordered to be built to beef up the now tottering power of the Sea Tigers who are engaged in gun and drug running across the narrow Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka. They have lost many vessels in the ongoing conflict with the Sri Lankan security forces.

Tamil Nadu police authorities have identified the two men arrested as Premraj alias Raj alias Dorai Kutty (48) a close relative of Soosai and Diesel Kumar alias Kumar one of the 17 terrorists who took cyanide after Sri Lanka Navy arrested them in 1987 for gun running near Jaffna. Diesel Kumar's 12 colleagues died after biting cyanide pills but Kumar was one of the five who survived and later released.

The arrests of the two were made on Monday by the Tamil Nadu Police on the information provided to them by the Intelligence Bureau.