COLOMBO: LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran died fighting in an islet in the Nanthikadal lagoon on the morning of May 19, 2009. But to die fighting was his last option. He wanted to escape and live to fight another day, says Prof Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Prabhakaran had a number of escape plans in his mind, he said.
USE OF SHIP-BASED CHOPPER
Gunaratna told Express that one of Prabhakaran’s daring plans was to get the vessel Christina to come near the No Fire Zone (NFZ) in Mullaitivu district, and get picked up from the shore by a chopper on the vessel.
Ravishankar Kanakarajah alias Sangili of Canada had arranged for the ship and kept it ready in Indonesia. But one Achchutharan, who was given the responsibility of making arrangements for a chopper, failed to get one, Gunaratna said.
Christina was secured by the Sri Lankan navy after the war.
The second option was to sneak out of the NFZ and head for the Yala game sanctuary in the deep south, and use the less patrolled southern coast to escape from the island.
Another option was to escape to hideouts in Batticaloa with the help of Ram, who, according to Gunaratna, had managed to survive in the east despite losing the war in 2007.
But, none of these three options could be exercised because the Sri Lankan forces had blocked all land and sea routes. By May 16, the entire Mullaitivu coastline was in the army’s hands and the naval blockade was impregnable.
BREAKING INTO WANNI
The fourth option was to break through the thick Lankan cordon on the west bank of the Nanthikadal lagoon and find sanctuary in the Wanni jungles. LTTE cadre had buried their weapons there before withdrawing.
In trying to break through, a 140-strong Tiger unit led by Pottu Amman and Charles Anthony — Prabhakaran’s elder son — first pretended to be civilian refugees, but soon opened fire and unleashed 30 suicide bombers on the Lankan guards. The Tigers breached the army’s forward lines but were eventually crushed. Among the dead were Pottu Amman and Charles Anthony.
At another point, LTTE’s political chief Nadesan, Peace Secretariat chief Puleethevan and military wing leader Ramesh were killed in a crossfire.
According to weekly Nation, a starving Prabhakaran got into the lagoon and took shelter at an islet on the night of May 18. While knee deep in the muddy water, a grenade hit his chest and a gun shot ripped through his skull. Troops of the 4th Vijayabahu Regiment found his mud-soaked body at 10 am on May 19.