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Unable to retrieve the body of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam intelligence chief Pottu Amman from the war zone, the Sri Lankan Army is still investigating the possibility that he may be alive despite several claims to the contrary.
Amman, wanted in connection with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, was believed to have died along with most of the other Tiger leaders and an LTTE spokesperson had recently confirmed his death. The Army, however, did not find his body among the top Tiger leaders.
"Apart from the way the Tiger leader got killed, the military is also still investigating intelligence wing leader Pottu Amman's death as they could not find his body among top level Tiger leaders," the State-run Sunday Observer said. "Therefore, they have to believe in the information divulged by a Tiger cadre who surrendered, that Pottu Amman was killed before LTTE teams arrived in military controlled areas," it said. Meanwhile, DNA test on bodies of Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and his son Charles Anthony identified them, clearing all doubts about their deaths, the paper said.
Besides Rajiv's assassination, Amman is wanted for the 1996 bombing of Sri Lankan Central Bank killing 91 people. Former LTTE commander and now a Federal Minister Karuna Amman had recently said that LTTE International Relations head K Pathmanathan, had confirmed through a radio interview that Pottu Amman, had died in the combat.
Colonel Karuna, the LTTE commander of the Eastern region before he fell out with Prabakaran in 2004, had also said that Pathmanathan had claimed that the wife and daughter of Prabhakaran were dead. The slain Tiger supremo's wife Mathivathani and daughter Duwarka were earlier believed to have fled to Europe as the conflict intensified in Sri Lanka's north. The Sri Lankan Army has not yet found their bodies nor has it revealed any information about them. The whereabouts of Prabakaran's 13-year-old son Balachandran are also not known.
"The deaths of Prabhakaran's wife Madivadanee and daughter Dvaraka is also a puzzle to the military as they could not find their bodies among the scores of Tiger cadres killed," the Sunday Observer said. The military, however, on Wednesday found Prabhakaran's parents among civilians at the Menik Farm welfare camp. According to Prabhakaran's father, they had not met their son regularly despite occasional visits. "When the fighting erupted in Puthukudiyiruppu, Prabhakaran has sent a vehicle for them to arrive in Puthumattalan area and they had lived among the other Tamil civilians in the safe zone," the Observer said.