CBI sees hope in petition seeking arrest of LTTE leader KP

The petition filed before a Sri Lankan court seeking the arrest of Kumara Pathmanathan alias KP, LTTE leader is being viewed closely by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The CBI, which has been wanting to question him in connection with the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has complained that Sri Lanka has not cooperated with them on this issue.

What the petition states:

The petition filed by the Janata Vimukthi Party in Sri Lanka seeks a directive to the new government to arrest KP. The petition was filed before the Court of Appeals in Colombo.

In the petition there is a directive sought to the government to arrest him. It was said that there are several questions that need to be answered and hence, his arrest and investigation becomes important.

CBI waits for directive:

A CBI officer informed Oneindia that they would wait to see what the directive would be. We had approached the interpol last month seeking to expedite the process so that they could question KP.

The CBI had complained that Sri Lanka had not been cooperative on this aspect but no positive reply has come out so far. We had sent a letter rogatory and the same has been pending for several years.

On this issue the CBI, which got a years extension to complete it's probe has run from pillar, to post to question him. His details had been sought from 23 countries. While most of them have responded Sri Lanka was the only country not to respond.

Is he under Sri Lanka's protection?

After KP was nabbed in Malaysi in the year 2009 he was extradited to Sri Lanka. He remained in detention till 2012 and was then released to work for an NGO that he runs.

He is currently believed to be at Killinochchi in Sri Lanka.‎ India believes that he under the protection of Sri Lanka. His questioning is crucial to the CBI which needs to complete the probe.

He was once questioned by the CBI in which he denied any knowledge of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination plot. This was however an informal questioning which does not hold good in law.

What the allegations against KP are?

The CBI says it has evidence that he had a role to play in the assassination plot. He was close to Prabhakaran and also did the job of procuring arms.

He was infact the head of the LTTE's arms procurement wing. Whether he had a role in procuring arms of the plot is something we need to find out the CBI says.

The CBI feels that if the petition filed before the court is allowed then KP would be arrested. Once arrested Sri Lanka would have no ground to deny us the right to question him.