More on "KP"

DefenceWire has received inquiries from posted comments and emails about Kumaran Pathmanathan alias "K.P." escaping from Thai Police Custody by paying $20 million. We an confirm that such a thing has not happened. A certain Sri Lankan newspaper has claimed this today (15/09/07). The story was fabricated by a site called politicsparty.com which was then carried by dailyindia.com and others. Since DefenceWire was the first to announce his arrest in the World Wide Web, it is only right that we make this clarification before any one else.

The truth is as follows. "K.P' is still in Thai police custody and will be released to Sri Lanka shortly. However, no-one by the name of Kumaran Pathmanatha or "K.P." exists any more. No-one by that name has entered an International Airport in the last 20 years. The person in Thai custody is a Swiss Passport-Holder called Peter Ibrahim. He was originally known as Kumaran Pathmanathan or "K.P". So the Thais can claim freely that no Sri Lankan by the name of Kumaran Pathmanathan is in their custody.

A High-level Sri Lankan team has already left for Thailand. No Official extradition arrangements will be made between the two countries since Thailand and Sri Lanka do not have an Extradition Treaty . The process will be handled in a different way, which we are not at liberty to discuss here. DefenceWire can confirm that Sri Lanka will be the sole recipient of the arrested, since both Thailand and also India have agreed that he is of worth to Sri Lankan law-enforcement agencies more so than to any other foreign law-enforcement agencies. "K.P" is valuable to Sri Lankan counter-insurgency operations due to the vast knowledge he has in money-laundering, and also in selecting and acquiring the best quality weapons at cheap international prices from Non-State sources and transferring them via floating LTTE warehouses to Sri Lanka. For the time-being the Rajiv Gandhi case can wait in the courts as it has waited for many years now.

India will not accept him officially. The reason is that India has called on the Sri Lanka government to seek a 'political solution' to the conflict, instead of a 'military solution'. If India obtains his extradition to that country, its external policies will be questionable to the outside world. India will be branded of maintaining a 'dual' policy with regard to the Sri Lankan conflict both internally, by the pro-LTTE Tamilnadu parties, and externally by others.

Who Dares, Wins

Nearly one year ago, on 17th September 2006, the Sri Lanka Navy intercepted and completely destroyed an LTTE arms ship in the deep seas off Kalmunai. On 28th February 2007, The Navy repeated this herculean task by destroying another LTTE arms ship south of Dondra Head. On 18th March 2007, the Navy again destroyed two LTTE arms ships Southeast of Arugam Bay. Little did anyone know that these victories were paving the way for an unprecedented 'kill' for the Navy.

September 2007 was again a busy month for Navy Intelligence. Many officers spent sleepless hours putting together a huge jig-saw-puzzle. They had scraped together an idea of the location, a date, exact number of and accurate description of four LTTE ships packed with Artillery shells and other lethal cargo bound for the LTTE. Navy Commander Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda took a very bold decision. The decision was to send three of the Navy's most deep-sea-worthy and heavily-armed vessels on a very long journey. This offensive operation was to be launched far-away from the shores of Sri Lanka. The vessels included Two Off-shore Patrol Vessels and one Missile Frigate. The Navy didn't forget one crucial thing. That was to send its 'source' along with the flotilla of ships out to sea.

Thanks to the 'source' on board, on 11th September 2007, the Navy armada was able to clearly identify three LTTE arms ships in the deep seas. The Navy cautioned those on-board to stop but instead received a barrage of mortar shells. The ships were clearly LTTE. Sensing doom, each ship, with a crew of about 10-15 Sea Tigers, were using the mortar tubes on-board to attack the Navy. The Navy opened-up with its own barrage of fire, which included 105mm and 72mm cannons. Within minutes, the artillery shells on-board the LTTE ships caught fire and wrecked the ships. Gradually, the destroyed vessels sunk into the deep abyss of the Indian Ocean, never to be seen again. However, in the ensuing melee, the fourth ship had vanished. Apparently, one of the sinking ships had tipped-off the fourth vessel.

With each attack passing, the Navy has dared a little more than before. The September 11th attack was a '9/11' for the LTTE as it never anticipated a Navy ambush 1200 nautical miles out into the sea. DefenceWire has reliably learnt that Naval Intelligence units had single-handedly run the operation. Unlike the previous operations, no Military Intelligence (MI) was involved in the Navy's '9/11' attacks.

The Sea-Tigers, furious with the Navy, did some daring of their own when a cluster of their boats made plans to attack the Navy's Jetliner Transport vessel. The vessel was carrying around 3000 servicemen at the time. Effective reconnaissance helped prevent the LTTE boats being put-out into the sea. The Air Force ponded the boats and forced a retreat before any harm could fall on the Jetliner. The LTTE will most likely dare again to cause maximum damage to the Navy. Exactly when and how they would do that is the million-dollar question.