Selvarasa Pathmanathan

File:Kumaran Pathmanadan.jpg

One of the few known pictures of Kumaran Pathmanadan

Kumaran Pathmanadan (also know as Shanmugam Kumaran Tharmalingam or simply KP; last name also spelt as Padmanadan or Pathmanaban; born April 6, 1955) was the chief procurer of arms for the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the Tamil Tigers), a Sri Lankan militant organization. He is on Interpols most wanted list for various charges related to arms smuggling, and is also wanted by Indian Police in connection with the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.

There were conflicting reports from Thailand that Pathmanadan had been arrested on September 11, 2007, although Thai immigration officers later claimed that no such person had entered the country in the last two years.

Early life

Little information is available of his early life. He was born Shanmugam Kumaran Tharmalingam on April 6, 1955 in the village of Kankesanthurai in the Jaffna District of Sri Lanka. Pathmanadan, who can converse in Tamil, English, French and Sinhalese, is known to have left Sri Lanka immediately after communal clashes in 1983.

Pathmanadan is known to use at least 23 aliases and masks, and has been on the Interpol most wanted list for a number of years for charges including criminal conspiracy and for the violation of the Indian Terrorist Act and the Indian Explosive Act. He has also been implicated in several assassinations of political leaders. He is believed to have obtained citizenship of Thailand.

Rajiv Gandhi assassination

Main article: Rajiv Gandhi assassination

On May 21, 1991, former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber at a public meeting in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. The assassination was carried out by the LTTE suicide bomber Thenmuli Rajaratnam also known as Dhanu, who detonated an RDX explosive laden belt tucked below her dress as she bent down to greet him.

Intelligence agencies believe that Pathmanadan had links with the planning of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. The Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) approached 23 countries in 2001 requesting information regarding LTTE members who they believed were linked with th assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Sweden, where Pathmanadan was believed to be hiding at the time, was one of the countries.

The Interpol Headquarters in Lyon, France also issued a red notice against Pathmanadan, which requests member states to arrest the suspect and hold them for extradition. The notice stated, "Tharmalingam (Pathmanadan) is alleged to have been involved in the murder of Rajiv Gandhi on 21 May 1991 in Tamil Nadu, India."

Involvement in LTTE fund raising activities

Kumaran Pathmanadan was one of the top officials of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the Tamil Tigers), and the chief procurer of arms for the organization. He ran a global network of LTTE offices which were engaged in its weapons procurement, logistics and money laundering operations.

Initially based in Malaysia, where he set up a shipping company in 1987, he was forced to move out after the Malaysian Special Branch cracked down on LTTE activities in the country in 1990, culminating in the seizure of an LTTE ship the same year. Pathmanadan then moved to Thailand, which became a safe haven for the LTTE. There he established himself as the head of banking, procurement and shipping of the Tamil Tigers.

According to a report by Jane's Intelligence Review:

"While Cambodia is the hub of the LTTE East Asia Network, Thailand continues to serve as the most important country for trans-shipment of munitions and coordination of logistics... its excellent communications infrastructure, proximity to former war zones in both Cambodia and [Burma] and its western coastline facing the Bay of Bengal and Sri Lanka beyond have made Thailand the ancient interface between the LTTE's war zone."

In Thailand Pathmanadan set up and led the "KP Department", the procurement arm of the LTTE, the oldest international wing of the outfit. He was responsible for equipping the rebels with a modern day arsenal which enabled them to challenge the Sri Lankan Military and to fight a high intensity war. He procured modern hardware, paid for them through secret bank accounts, and shipped them to the rebels using a merchant shipping network operated by the KP Department, known as the "sea pigeons". Apart from setting up a number of lucrative businesses in Thailand, Pathmanadan established a state-of-the-art boatyard in the country, which manufactured over a dozen different boats, including mini-submarines and suicide boats.

Pathmanadan's KP Department is complimented by another international wing of the LTTE called the "Aiyanna Group". While the KP Department acts as the procurement arm of the LTTE, the Aiyanna Group looks after fund raising and intelligence operations of the organization. Jane's Intelligence Review estimated in 2007 that the LTTE earns between $200-300 million per year through their fund raising activities and numerous illegal businesses.

Intelligence agencies also believe the KP Department and the Aiyanna Group operate in a "mutually supportive manner" with other designated terrorist organizations such as Al Queda to achieve their objectives. The heads of both departments operate under the direct guidance of the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and intelligence head Pottu Amman, both of whom are also on the Interpol most wanted list.

The online newspaper Asian Tribune called Pathmanadan "the king pin of Tiger arms smuggling", going on to state "He is a noted smuggler of arms and narcotics."

Intended presence at peace negotiations

Following the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE in 2002, the LTTE nominated Pathmanadan as a member of its delegation to the Peace Talks scheduled with the government in late 2003. They passed on a request, through Norwegian facilitators of the negotiations, to find out whether the Government had any objections to "Shanmugam Kumaran Tharmalingam" being part of the delegation. The Government rejected the request, mainly due to the fact that he was wanted in India for links with Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, and letting him join the delegation would have ruptured relations between the two nations.

The LTTE's reasons for nominating Pathmanadan to the delegations are unclear, but most likely had to do with the fact that Interpol, CIA and MI-5 were after him. Getting on the list of peace negotiators would have meant, with Sri Lanka's approval, Pathmanadan would be off the list of the world's most wanted men.

Fugitive status

Pathmanadan was the subject of a worldwide manhunt, which involved Police from cities including Johannesburg, Rangoon, Singapore and Bangkok. Some of the world's foremost intelligence agencies, including the American CIA and British MI-5, were on his trail. He was believed to have had bank accounts in London, Frankfurt, Denmark, Athens and Australia and over 200 passports for his use.

Known as an elusive, secretive individual, he helped keep a low profile by having direct contact only with LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Reported arrest

Thai newspapers announced on September 11, 2007 that Pathmanadan had been arrested in Bangkok on the evening of the previous day (Monday). The reports were preceded by the detention in Ranong Province of three other Tamil Tiger operatives the month before, for trying to buy guns and 45,000 rounds of ammunition. However a number of Thai officials refuted the reports, claiming they had no information about such an arrest.

Sri Lankan officials have requested permission from the Thai authorities to question Pathmanadan, if he has been arrested. He is wanted in Sri Lanka for various crimes including murder, funding terrorism, money laundering and arms smuggling. Investigations are expected to focus on probing the Tamil Tigers international network, their operating procedures, money laundering and the the underworld dealers who supplied arms and narcotics. India had also contacted the Thai government requesting that Pathmanadan be extradited to India.

See also

• Terrorist attacks attributed to the LTTE
• Military use of children in Sri Lanka

External links

• Interpol wanted notice
• Ministry of Defence, Sri Lanka