India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) is investigating terror funding for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the agency has filed a charge sheet against six people.
Previously, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) which runs counterintelligence operations had issued an alarm and had warned that attempts are being made to siphon off money for reviving the group.
It has also been assessed that the ultimate aim may not be the resurrection of the LTTE, but to create a situation in Tamil Nadu and resurrect ‘Tamil nationalism’ in India.
The NIA informed about the case in a press release dated 29/03/2022. “NIA Files Charge Sheet Against 6 accused in LTTE Terror Funding Case (RC-02/2022/NIA/DLI)” the NIA wrote in a tweet.
NIA Files Charge Sheet Against 6 accused in LTTE Terror Funding Case (RC-02/2022/NIA/DLI) pic.twitter.com/54pTI96qij
— NIA India (@NIA_India) March 29, 2022
According to the press release by the NIA, the case was lodged as FIR No.1/2021 by the ‘Q’ Branch CID in Chennai and was taken over by the NIA on January 18, 2022. It relates to a criminal conspiracy to resurrect the LTTE by forgery and the use of fabricated papers as real in order to siphon cash from dormant accounts to perform criminal and terrorist actions.
Letchumanan Mary Franciska, Kenniston Fernando, Baskaran, Johnson Samuvel, G Dharmendran, and E Mohan are the six charged.
As per the NIA press release, “During investigation it was found that Letchumanan Mary Franciska, T. Kenniston Fernando and K. Baskaran entered into a conspiracy with foreign entities to siphon off deposits in dormant bank accounts by using Indian identity documents obtained fraudulently and forging identity documents to revive, revamp and regroup LTTE in India and Sri Lanka. They were abetted by Johnson Samuvel, Dharmendran and Mohan in forging Indian identity documents,”.
The whole matter came to the attention of the security agencies when a Sri Lankan national, Letchumanan Mary Franciska was apprehended at Chennai Airport who had arrived in India on a one-year tourist visa in December of this year.
She later rented a property in Anna Nagar’s Shakthi Colony and obtained a rental agreement by concealing her nationality in order to obtain an LPG connection in her name and also obtained an Indian passport and a voter ID through the LPG connection document.
The police then arrested her because she was in possession of an Indian passport through forgary and when the NIA started to look into this affair, it discovered a bigger plot of serious consequences for India’s national security.
The Intelligence Bureau has said that, though the LTTE has gone silent since it lost the war, there are attempts to reinvigorate the terror organisation.
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.