COLOMBO: Three LTTE suspects, who had been arrested in Malaysia for allegedly attempting to revive the banned Tamil rebel group at the international level, have been deported to Sri Lanka, a senior police official said today.
The three members arrived here last night and are being quizzed by the Terrorist Investigations Division (TID), police spokesman and Superintendent Ajith Rohana said.
The trio, who hold UNHCR refugee cards and were staying in Malaysia since 2004, were arrested from different locations in the central Selangor state by Malaysia's Special Branch's Counter-Terrorism Division (CTD) on May 15.
The men are suspected of attempting to revive the LTTE activities, especially at international level, Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar had said.
He had said the trio were suspected of using Malaysia as their base to spread the group's propaganda as well as to generate funds for their activities.
Since 2009, Malaysian police had detained eight LTTE members which includes the man who succeeded Velupillai Prabhakaran as the LTTE leader. Prabhakaran was killed by the Sri Lankan military in 2009, when the nearly three-decade of armed conflict ended.
Sri Lanka in late March banned groups and individuals who live overseas for helping the LTTE to regroup.
Defence authorities are to request the respective governments to hand them in for investigations.
The police also said that an intelligence operative of the LTTE was arrested over the weekend at Kilinochchi, the former LTTE stronghold in the north.
He was working in the Kilinochchi hospital and was an active member of the LTTE between 2006 and 2008, the police spokesman said.
In an apparent counter-LTTE revival operation early April, the military killed three LTTE operatives in the north.