Rajiv assassination: Key accused held

NEW DELHI: Sixteen years after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, one of the most wanted accused, Kumaran Padmanadan, of the LTTE was reported to have been arrested in Bangkok.

Security officials informed that he had been raising funds for the banned organisation for several years and is also very close to the LTTE chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

“We have heard reports of his arrest but we are not sure. We will write to authorities in Thailand to inform us more about the arrest,” said Vijay Shanker, director Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).      

The man, often called KP, is alleged to have raised funds and supplied guns and ammunition that were used for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

Officials said that Padmanadan has been operating in Thailand since 1991 when he had allegedly fled from India, five days after the assassination of Gandhi.

He is amongst the oldest cadre members of LTTE. For his sheer brilliance in fund raising for LTTE and acting as an arms dealer, Padmanadan is the third most wanted person in Interpol’s list of Sri Lanka terrorists. He allegedly has business interests in Malaysia where he was staying before fleeing to Thailand.

Senior officials said Padmanadan also holds an Indian passport. They said during the investigation of the assassination case, they had found clues suggesting that Padmanadan was in India before the operation to support the human bomb.