INTERPOL ISSUES AN OPEN WARRANT OF ARREST ON SEA TIGER BOSS SOOSAI ALIAS THILLAYAMPALAM

By Walter Jayawardhana

The Interpol in Paris, the international police organization, has issued a world wide arrest warrant for the Sea Tiger commander known as Colonel Soosai.

The arrest warrant issued on his real name, Thillayampalam Sivanesan has been put out on the backdrop of allegations by Sri Lanka’s Criminal investigations Department of the Police that he led attacks on naval vessels and civilians in June 2006.

Sea Tiger Cadres arrested at Kalpitiya and Pamunugama told the CID detectives that the foiled attempts by the Sea Tigers in June last year were specifically conducted under the instructions issued by the Soosai alias Thillayampalam Sivanesan.

Along with the LTTE’s intelligence Chief Shivashankar Pottuamman, Soosai is the senior most Tamil Tiger leader after Velupillai Prabhakaran. Though he constantly engages his troops against Sri Lankan civilian and military personnel Sri Lanka on October 18 2004 on humanitarian grounds facilitated a trip for him to go to Singapore to receive medical help. It is not exactly known where he took his treatment and for what ailment.

The Sea Tiger cadres arrested on June 17 2006 revealed to the CID that before they were engaged in some futile attacks on civilians they received instructions from Soosai exactly how to do it in some mock operations conducted in Mulathivu, the Sea Tiger headquarters.

The Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department in Sri Lanka Asoka Wijetilleke informed these facts to the courts and the courts issued an open warrant for the arrest of Soosai that was instrumental in generating an international arrest warrant by the Interpol.

According to the arrest warrant, Thillayampalam Sivanesan alias Sera Osca alias Makkal Thilakam born on October 16, 1963 in Velvetithurai, Jaffna is holding Sri Lankan passport No.1365685 issued on October 18, 2004 and the national identity card no 632904037 V.

The Sea Tigers wing was established in 1984 during early years of the LTTE to smuggle personnel and equipment between LTTE bases in Tamil Nadu and Jaffna at a time when the Indian government was funding and arming the LTTE.

Since then under Soosai’s leadership it has become a formidable sea force destroying more than 30 Sri lankan naval vessels. In November 2006 Sea Tigers attacked the Cruise ship named Green Ocean carrying 300 civilians from Trincomalee to Jaffna. Last year Sea Tigers were also engaged in attacking a disabled Jordanian merchant vessel carrying rice from India to South Africa.

A suicide squad is also operating under Soosai, named Black Sea Tigers that damaged navy vessel Edithara on July 10 1990 and sank navy’s command ship Abhitha on May 4 1991.

One of their most daring accomplishments was the recapture of Mulativu in 1996. They also contributed very much to the capture of Elephant Pass.

For the last one year Sea Tigers have been greatly engaged in procuring arms from Tamil Nadu transporting across the narrow strait between the two countries. But an expedient Prime minister Man Mohan Singh has turned down repeated Sri Lankan requests to let Sri Lankan Navy engage in joint patrols with the Indian navy to keep the Sea Tigers in check.