Surviving LTTE leaders
5 min read
- Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP)
Image : KP (c) , Prabhakaran, Balasingham, Adele Balasingham playing with leopard cubs in 1980s.
He was in charge of LTTE’s international network. In 2002 Peace Process he was sidelined for various reasons. In 2008 Prabhakaran asked KP to arrange arms. KP proved his worth by sending 3 Ships. While one ship was destroyed by Navy Sea tigers were able to successfully escort two ships to LTTE controlled areas. This helped LTTE survive for several months. In turn he was made the chief of LTTE’s International relationship chief in January 2009. During the last days he tried a lot(told by himself) to airlift Prabhakaran and his family from the battlefield but adamant Prabhakaran refused to leave Sri Lanka. Also KP was unable to get the help on time. KP was made LTTE chief in July 2009.
He was arrested in Malaysia in August 2009 and it was believed that his location was compromised by Nediyavan a rival LTTE leader. He is now working with various NGOs including Chenchollai Illam(orphanage home) which were opened by Prabhakaran all over Tamil Eelam.
2) Nediyawan , current de-facto LTTE chief
He worked under Castro who replaced KP as chief of LTTE’s Arm procurement and fund raising activities. He was sent to Norway during the 2002–2006 peace process as a part of spreading LTTE propaganda among Eelam Tamils diaspora.
KP had said that during the final days of the war Nediyawan refused to pay $3.5million to arrange a chopper for Prabhakaran and his family.
Currently he is the most influential overseas LTTE leader. He almost controls the whole LTTE activities in Europe now.
3)Rudra
Image : Rudra(2nd from right) with LTTE chief and other members of LTTE’s International negotiation teams including Karuna(L)
Rudra was one of the close friends of Prabhakaran. He was LTTE’s International Legal Adviser. Being a lawyer he worked on defending LTTE on several international cases including Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.
He is working as a lawyer in New York, USA. He is also the current Prime Minister of PTGT(Provisional Transnational Government of Tamileelam).
4) Vinayagam:
He was a leading member of LTTE’s intelligence unit TOSIS (Tiger Organization Security Intelligence Service) . He had worked under the most feared Black Tiger commander Col. Charles during his dare devil covert operations in the south.
He escaped to India during the final days of the battle. From there he went to Europe. He is believed to be worked under Nediyawan the de-facto LTTE chief.
5)Thayamohan
He was LTTE’s Eastern commander. He escaped to Europe during the final days of the battle.
As Switzerland Government refused to deport him he is now living a normal life there safely.
6)Col.Ram:
He was LTTE’s commander for the Amparai region in Eastern province. After the fall of LTTE and it’s chief he fought bravely and went on to block Army ‘s advancement into his territory for several weeks. Later he too surrendered.
As his family was killed in the final battle he remarried when Army released him. Now he lives with his wife in the Eastern Province.
7)Col.Nagulan
He was special commander of LTTE’s Charles Anthony Brigade. He had also worked under Col.Ram in the Eastern Province.
He surrendered to Army during the final days and after rehabilitation leading a civilian life.
8) Lt. Col. Prabha:
Lt.Col.Prabha was LTTE’s intelligence chief for Amparai and Batticaloa region. Now he is running a canteen at a local college in the Eastern Province.
Other top LTTE leaders whose whereabouts are unknown:
1)Yogi:
Image: Yogi (R) with LTTE chief and deputy chief in 1980s.
He was an important political leader of LTTE in the 1980s. He was also the first secretary of LTTE’s political party People’s Front of Liberation Tigers(PFLT) when it was founded in 1989.
After the departure of Indian Army in March 1990 Yogi was sidelined by Prabhakaran. He took up political activities within LTTE mostly away from the limelight.
He was in-charge of LTTE’s Institute for Conflict Research in Vanni. During final days of the war he surrendered to the Army and never seen after that.
2)Karikalan
He was a former LTTE commander of Eastern province. At one time he controlled all LTTE activities in the Eastern region. He was the man behind the infamous expulsion of Muslims by LTTE in 1990.
His whereabout yet exactly not known, some people believe he is still live hiding in a different country. Others believe, during the final days of the war he suicided or surrendered to the Government forces and never seen again.
3)Baby Subramaniam
Image: Baby Subramaniam(c)
In 1970s when several militant groups emerged Subramaniam was operating on his own as a one man army. When Prabhakaran killed Jaffna Mayor in 1975 just like most Tamil youth of that time he too become very eager to meet Prabhakaran and join him. He came to Jaffna in search of Prabhakaran and immediately joined his group.
He retired from combat duties and mostly involved in political activities. He was head of LTTE’s Tamil Eelam Education Department.
During the final days of the war he surrendered to Army along with his wife and daughter. After that he and his family was never seen again.
4)Kushanthan
Image: Kushanthan got married to Col.Shankar’s step daughter. Prabhakaran and his wife were guest of honour during his marriage.
He worked under Col.Shankar and helped in the development of AIR-TIGERS. In 2007 Prabhakaran appointed him as the deputy chief of Air-Tigers. It was the time when LTTE started to use their Air-Force publicly and launched several air attacks. Though he never directly took part in the attacks, he coordinated and trained Air-tigers.
He escaped from Sri Lanka before the end of the War. In 2014 while working on a plan to review LTTE he was arrested in Malaysia. He was deported to Sri Lanka and never heard after that.
Note: There were several other LTTE leaders (mostly political) who surrendered to Army in 2009 and most of them never returned home. But as said many of those who believed to be missing at final phase of the war in 2009 are living in Europe, Canada and Australia in different names.
References :
- Answers provided by Gopal R to the Quora original post “Who are the surviving LTTE leaders?“. Original post in Quora in 2020
