Colombo: Man arrested for planning to commemorate Prabhakaran's anniversary

A man has been arrested in Sri Lanka for planning to publicly commemorate slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran's 60th birth anniversary.

The Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) arrested the accused in the north along with posters commemorating Prabakaran's birthday yesterday, police spokesman Ajith Rohana said. A laptop and a data storage device which contained such materials were also seized from him.

"We can't allow commemoration of a terrorist leader in public," Rohana said. Sri Lanka government troops and the LTTE were locked in a nearly-three decade bloody war that ended in 2009 with the defeat of the Tamil Tigers following the death of its chief Prabhakaran.

During the LTTE's 30-year separatist campaign, Prabakaran's birthday was celebrated as the LTTE's Hero's Day.