'Special' devotee escorted to temple
KANCHEEPURAM: The famous Kamatchi Amman temple in Kancheepuram was agog with a lot of speculation as one of the 'devotees' came escorted by about 20 policemen, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sambhasivam.
The 'special' devotee was Dileepan, a Sri Lankan national, who had been nabbed in a joint operation with the intelligence agencies on December 30, 2008 in Chennai, and at present lodged in the Poonamallee Special Camp.
Women standing in the long queue, who were awaiting their turn for offering prayers, were seen raising their eyebrows as the police led Dileepan (not the Dileepan, who had been accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case) into the sanctum sanctorum around 11.30 am. He was made to wait at the Sukravar Mandapam for 45 minutes, before being led to the inner sanctum for the "Uchi Kala" (noon) pooja.
Nadanam Sastrigal's son Srikanth performed the pooja. Nadanam told 'Express' that it was not a special pooja and Dileepan joined a host of other devotees to offer their prayers. Dileepan offered the prime deity a silk sari after worshipping Goddess Ambal, and, in turn, requested the priest for two mangalsutra threads, which was instantly granted. Dileepan later told 'Express' that he came to offer prayers in order to ward off obstacles to his marriage. The priest also presented him with a "salvai" and other offerings.
There was a flurry of activity inside the temple for about an hour. Someone spread a story that one of the LTTE men had been arrested in the temple. A top police official in the 'Q' branch told Express that Dileepan is "not detained in the Special Camp, but he is lodged. He is already on bail. But since he is a foreigner he is in the special camp. He is free to go anywhere provided his request is reasonable." The police had registered cases for conspiracy, smuggling, supporting a banned outfit and violation of the Foreigners Act.
When he was arrested, Dileepan was reported to be carrying three satellite phones with him. Three days prior to his arrest, another Sri Lankan national Antony (32) had been arrested on December 28, 2008, and the police recovered from him satellite phones, GPS equipment and ammonium nitrate.
It was said that Dileepan had come to Chennai to handover the satellite phones to a local LTTE contact. He migrated to India in 2008 from Switzerland where he had worked in a bakery. But suspicions that he might be linked to LTTE persisted as he had come to India leaving behind a prosperous life in Switzerland.