New Tamil Tiger leader KP arrested in Thailand, brought to Colombo

Bangkok/Colombo, Aug.7 (ANI): The new head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Selvarajah Pathmanathan alias KP, has been brought to Sri Lankan capital Colombo after his arrest in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday.

Pathmanathan was wanted on two Interpol warrants and took the reins of the remnants of the LTTE after their defeat in May. His arrest has dealt a severe blow to the rebels who have been trying to regroup after the death of V.Prabhakaran.

Pathmanathan has been running the LTTE's arms and smuggling networks for decades. He was the first LTTE official to acknowledge the death of Prabhakaran, who was killed in the closing days of Sri Lanka's offensive on a narrow spit of northeastern coast where they had surrounded the rebels, reports The Telegraph.

He was believed to have earned millions of dollars procuring weapons for the Tigers and running smuggling operations from bases across the region including Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar.

Security experts say he had multiple passports.

Some estimates said the LTTE earned between 200-300 million dollars from extortion, weapons sales and drug smuggling.

After the war, Pathmanathan had said the LTTE would try non-violent means to achieve its goal of a separate state for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils. (ANI)