transcurrents

KP the LTTE Arms Procurer Chief Remains Elusive

September 16th, 2007

By D.B.S. Jeyaraj

“They seek him here;they seek him there; they seek him everywhere”.

These lines from a doggerel about the scarlet pimpernel perfectly sums up the life and times of KP – the elusive chief procurer of arms and armaments for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The latest round of excitement is over the reported arrest of the man in Thailand. New Delhi and Colombo are supposedly requesting Bangkok to extradite KP to their respective countries. But there is a hitch. Despite the initial blaze of publicity about KP’s arrest the Thai authorities are now denying that the arrest ever took place.

Obviously there is something here that just does not seem “right” but as Andy Warhol observed famously every one is entitled to fifteen minutes of fame. Now KP is having more than fifteen minutes of fame or is it notoriety?

But who is this man and what has he been doing?

The man known as KP was born on on April – 6th – 1955 in the northern coastal town of Kankesanthurai (KKS). His name was Pathmanathan and his father’s name was Selvarajah . Though he was known by a number of names and aliases in later life KP’s real name was Selvarajah Pathmanathan.

KP though born at the KKS hospital was a native of Myliddy also a coastal area in the Valigamam north region.. Myliddy was essentially an agriculture cum fisheries area but also had a proud tradition of rearing the finest racing bulls. Myliddy carters used to win almost all “vandil chavaris” (cart races) held in Jaffna during more peaceful and prosperous times.

Myliddy was one of the earliest places in Jaffna to be affected by the escalating ethnic crisis. It is adjacent to Palaly – Vasavilan on one side and on the other to Thaiyiddy – Oorany – KKS. During peaceful times the army and air force stationed at Palaly enjoyed a friendly relationship with Myliddy people. Young Pathmanathan himself was a frequent visitor to Palaly base as one of his first cousins was an airman.

But all this changed after 1983 and Myliddy people being neighbours of the Palaly base found themselves prone and vulnerable to suspicion, danger and harassment. The people started leaving slowly and by 1985 it was virtually deserted. Later it was annexed as part of the high security zone. Currently the Palaly – Myliddy – KKS “triangle” area serves as the main base complex of all three defence services.

Pathmanathan was one of eight children. His father Selvarajah was a fisherman from Veeramanickthevanthurai in Myliddy. The traditional occupation of the people here was fishing but they were originally not of a fishing caste. The place derives its name from a Maravar chieftain named Veeramanickathevan from Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu , who settled in Myliddy with his clan centuries ago. The Maravars are of the Mukkulathor warrior caste and the people of Veeramanickathevanthurai also trace their lineage as being Kshatriya.

Pathmanathan had his education at Nadeswara College, KKS and Mahajana College, Thellipalai. He was involved in the politics of the Federal Party(FP) and later the Tamil United Liberation Front(TULF). Pathmanathan’s radicalisation was mainly through another native of Myliddy Pushparajan who succumbed to cancer some months ago. Pushparajan was one of those who pioneered the Tamil Ilaingar Peravai or youth front in the seventies and was detained without trial for many years then.

Pathmanathan’s pet name at home was Kutty (pup or cub). This was the name most Myliddy people called him also.During his childhood he was very thin and so nicknamed “oosi” (needle) in school.. Pathmanathan was not a very bright student and required more than one attempt to qualify for his OL and AL. He entered the Jaffna university in his twenties. He followed a BA course with political science and history as main subjects.

It was during his campus days that the letters “KP” attached on to him. Apparently there were two Pathmanathans in the same batch and in order to differentiate he became KP. Since he was also known as Kutty the K in Kutty and the P in Pathmanathan became KP.The tall, light – skinned , hansome KP was a big hit with the girls.

While at the Jaffna campus KP was attracted to Tamil militancy. Initially he joined the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization(TELO) led by the legendary Thangathurai and Kuttimani. KP doubled up as a TELO militant while being an undergrad. His nom de guerre in the TELO was “Kumaran”. Kumaran participated as a look – out in the Thinnevely bank robbery where 10. 8 lakhs was robbed.

There was a major split in the original LTTE in 1980. Kandiah Umamaheswaran broke away with a large number and formed the Peoples Liberation organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE). The residual cadres under Velupillai Prabakharan were a dejected lot. For about two years the LTTE under Prabha tied up with the TELO under Thangathurai – Kuttimani. It was then that KP began interacting with Prabakharan.

The Neervely robbery on March 25th 1981 was a watershed in the history of the Tamil militant movement. The peoples Bank van was collecting hard cash from the branches in the Vadamarachy sector and returning to Jaffna along the Jaffna – Point Pedro road. It was waylaid at Neervely and a massive sum of 8. 1 million rupees robbed.

This was a combined TELO – LTTE operation.. KP’s role in this was to ride a motor cycle behind the Peoples bank van and its escort police vehicle. There were no walkie – talkies or cellular phones then. At one point KP had to speed up ahead of the vehicles and alert the militants lying in wait that the target was approaching. KP did his part and sped away. He did not participate in the robbery directly.

But suspicious officials had noted the motor cycle number down. Actually it did not belong to KP but to a fellow undergrad Wimalaraja who had absolutely no idea that KP had borrowed it to use it for a robbery. The motor cycle was traced and the innocent Wimalaraja arrested. This led to a massive varsity demonstration demanding his release. But KP had flown.

In what was perhaps the first of his many escapes from the law KP simply abandoned everything and fled to India. He was then staying at 180 KKS rd in Jaffna. KP was then in theBA final year but was compelled to give up studies. He never completed his degree.

After fleeing to India KP dropped out of Tamil militancy for a while. He teamed up with “vakeel” Kandaswamy a smuggler cum racketeer on the fringes of the Tamil militant movement. Some other militants like Sellakkili also joined “Vakeel” as helpers. One motivating reason was survival as they had no funds.

KP worked for Vakeel in Bombay now Mumbai and also on the Indo – Pak and Indo – Nepal borders. He also undertook smuggling trips to Singapore and back on false passports. This life came to an end after the July 1983 pogrom.

Sellakili had returned earlier to LTTE folds and was killed in the Thinnevely attack on Julky 23rd that triggered off the Island – wide anti – Tamil violence. KP went down to Madras now Chennai and enlisted himself in militant ranks again. This time he joined the LTTE and not his former outfit the TELO.

Since Thangathurai and Kuttimani were no more and the TELO was under Sree Sabaratnam so KP preferred to join the LTTE as he had struck up good rapport with Prabakharan.KP had once come down to Madurai in 1982 with Sellakili and stayed for some days with Prabakharan during which period the LTTE leader had invited him to join the tigers whenever he wanted.

After inducting KP into the LTTE , Prabakharan did not make him take up formal arms training. Prabakharan recogized that KP’s talents lay elsewhere. KP was asked to use the contacts and experience he had gained through the “Vakeel” Kandasamy connection to raise funds and buy arms for the LTTE.This he began doing and soon “vakeel” himself became KP’s unofficial deputy.

Together with helpers from the LTTE as well as the Indian underworld KP began acquiring arms and equipment for the LTTE. Some of these clandestine acts were done without even Indian authorities knowing. Some of KP’s original aides in India were Vakeel, Radha, Thavam, Eesan, Kumar, Ranjith and Shankar.

As time progressed KP’s duties began expanding. He was required to travel to many countries in the middle – east, Africa, Europe, Australia, North America and South – East Asia and meet Tamil expatriate groups to mobilise funds. This was a time when several Tamil militant groups were active and competing for expatriate funds so it was indeed a formidable task to generate funds.

The overseas fund raising also involved the setting up of LTTE branches and appointment of tiger representatives abroad. This responsibility too became that of KP’s. In the eighties and early nineties it was KP who controlled and co-ordinated the LTTE overseas branches. His objective was to garner as much funds as possible and utilise it for purchase of arms.

In addition to raising funds and administering the overseas branches KP also had the daunting task of scouring the international illicit arms bazaar and do shopping. He travelled to many parts of the world and bought up arms and armaments. He also had to make arrangements to ship them clandestinely to India first and later directly to North – East Sri Lanka..

There was no beaten track or set procedures. It was a case of playing it by ear.KP was a pioneering pathfinder as he had to improvise and evolve on the job.Much of the early accomplishments was through trial and error.

In 1983 KP himself was arrested in Mumbai when coming from Singapore with 4 million worth of gold. Again in 1984 he was arrested in Chennai in possession of smuggled gold. In both instances KP was out in a jiffy as the LTTE was then in the good books of India.

KP was also arrested at Heathrow in 1989 when travelling on a false Indian passport to London. He was detained for 10 days and deported to India. But he was back in the UK within weeks. He was detained in 1990 in Penang when Malaysian authorities seized the LTTE ship “Sunbird”. But thanks to efforts of Malaysian Tamil nationals the man was out quickly.

KP also has had some narrow shaves. He was detained and quizzed on suspicion at least on three occasions in Europe . The suspicion was not over his arms dealings but over his travel documents. This happened in Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam in the late eighties.Apparently KP had exploited the relaxed EU procedures of the time and made refugee claims under different names in different European countries and obtained travel documents valid in Europe then.

KP also spent six months as “Rajan” in Canada in 1988. During this time he frequently visited the USA. KP re- structured and re – organized the LTTE outfits in Canada during this time. He also did much fund raising in the US and Canada and purchased much technological, electronic, aeronautical and communications equipment during this time. It was after KP left that Canadian officials became aware of his true identity.

A few years ago the Pakistani authorities were tipped off that KP was travelling by plane from Karachi. When the officials swooped on the aircraft they found one seat vacant. KP travelling on a false alias had simply not boarded the plane. It was like a scene from a movie. It is said that KP had another escape recently when LTTE linked arms smugglers were arrested in Indonesia.

In the early days KP travelled on a Sri Lankan passport numbered J – 803500. His national ID card number was 550971231 – V. Later he used two Indian passports. One was E – 277582 under his own name Selvarajah Pathmanathan. The other numbered E – 432432 under his well – known alias Tharmalingam Kumaran Shanmugam which many think is his real name.

But nowadays KP does not use these out – dated , worthless documents.It is said that KP has around 35 – 40 travel documents from many countries under 20 – 25 different names. Indian officials were fuming a few years ago when it was belatedly discovered that KP had been at Navrang Hotel in Delhi under an alias Venkatraman from Chennai.

KP was not involved in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination directly. His name is not included in the 41 name charge sheet. But he was staying in Mumbai on May 21st 1991 and left India on May 26th. The CBI thinks that the 2.4 mm SEG pellets in the Suicide killers explosive belt and also the 9mm pistol in Sivarasans hands were supplied by KP. There is also a belief that KP financed the assassination squad.

So they want to question him and have got Interpol to issue an alert. The CBI also sent rogatory letters to law – enforcement authorities in 19 countries seeking assistance to apprehend KP. Indian officials have also toured 23 countries for the purpose of tracing Pathmanathan.

Incidently the Indian investigation revealed that KP was living with a beautiful Indian woman in Bombay. It appears that KP had a soft spot for pretty women. Though the LTTE leader is a stickler for puritan discipline he seems to have been quite tolerant of KP in this respect due perhaps to the importance of his work.

KP’s greatest achievement has been his ability to raise funds, acquire arms and then transport them to the LTTE in the Island. He is a globe – trotter in this regard having garnered armaments from diverse sources such as Maronite Christian groups in Lebanon. Eritrean rebels, ex – Mujahiyadeen from Afghanistam, KPNLF circles in Kampuchea , the underworld in Marseilles and arms dealers in Ukraine, Russia and Georgia etc.

The extensive range of arms in quality and quantity that KP has bought and shipped is mind – boggling. What is remarkable is that this supply of arms has been steadily flowing despite the overwhelming odds against such a perlious exercise.

Sri Lanka being an Island is obviously dependent on the sea for many things. For a guerilla movement like the LTTE sea transport has been of crucial importance. A continuous supply of arms and ammunition is essential to keep fighting. For this Soosai’s sea tigers and KP’s overseas purchases dept have been of great service. KP has been single – handedly responsible in providing constant and consistent supply of arms.

KP is also responsible for setting up the elaborate world – wide shipping network of the LTTE.He was helped to a great extent in this by Tamils involved in shipping as ship captains, chandlers and freight insurance. The first known company was registered in Singapore as Arasu maritime pvt ltd. It was this firm that leased the first LTTE ship “MV Cholan”. KP himself was a director and provided the paid up capital.

A second Shipping firm Plymouth shipping co was started later in Singapore. The heads of both firms were Tamil ship captains. Another shipping firm was Vikram Holding pvt lts registered in Kualalumpore with three Malaysian Tamils as partners with KP. Later another company Point Pedro shipping was registered in Panama. KP also had dealings with Orient Shipping in Germany.

Since the names of these firms became public knowledge the LTTE does not use them anymore. The LTTE ships whose names are known are also not in visible use now. But the LTTE shipping fleet has grown and is a viablecommercial entity on its own apart from its original mission of ferrying arms.

The fronts, owning, leasing or chartering the ships are unknown. The companies are registered in one country while ships fly flags of convenience from other countries.The captains and crew are mainly from non – Tamil communities though a few Tamils may be part of the crew.

But when armaments and equipment is shipped to the LTTE in Sri Lanka the crew and captain are Sri Lankan Tamils posing as nationals of South Asian countries. The names of the ships are also changed during the mission.

KP has established worldwide contacts not only with arms dealers and the underworld but also with legitimate officials. He is known under different names to many customs, immigration and Police officers of different countries. He is also well known in shipping circles. Apart from some diplomastic contacts KP is also believed to be in touch with intelligence operatives of some powerful western nations after Sep 11th 2001.

The tried and tested modus operandi in the dangerous game of arms running has been the appropriate usage of bribes, political influence and coercion to achieve results. These methods had their roots in the smuggling ethos of Prabakharan’s native place Valvettithurai.

KP perhaps taking a cue from VVT smuggler methodology had perfected the art over the years. He always carried a bundle of notes to bribe minions. The big shots were entertained lavishly and presented expensive gifts. Local politcians with some clout in Police, Customs, immigration and shipping circles were assiduously cultivated. Where necessary thuggery and intimidation was deployed.

There was a time when KP was in charge of three important functions in the LTTE. The first was overseas fund raising and investment.The second was macro – supervision of LTTE branches anroad. The third was of course acquisition of arms , armaments, ammunition, and transport .

But after the ceasefire came into force in 2002 Prabakharan has re- vamped the LTTE. KP was relieved of two duties namely overseas finance management and general administration. This was because the work involved had become too much for one man and the LTTE leader wanted KP to focus on what was most important to the tigers.

Overseas finance management was entrusted to “Aiya Annai” and administration to Castro. Aiya being a KP disciple follows in his mentors footsteps and performs his duty without much hassle. But Castro in his vanity discontinued all the people installed by KP in the overseas branches and appointed his lackeys.

Today the tigers abroad are in vast disarray and a far cry from the times of KP. with different people jockeying for control. Factionalism is rampant. Fund raising as opposed to financial management was put under Financec chief Thamilendhi’s control. This too has resulted in confusion.When KP was in charge things ran smoothly.

But KP’s sphere of control known by the euphemism overseas purchasing dept or simply as KP dept continues to function efficiently. Until recently KP’s ships were discharging cargo at midsea without mishap. But this streak of good luck seems to be running out if recent claims of success by the navy are any indication.

KP himself does not travel much these days due to ill – health (diabetes , blood pressure, cardiac trouble etc) and also because he is a much wanted man in many countries.

But KP’s deputies trained by him are doing the filedwork now though KP directs and supervises. Interestingly his seconds in command are changed frequently for security reasons. But whoever is no 2 to to KP at any given time is always given the nom de guerre “David”.

Though he is “officially” a citizen of at least four countries KP in recent times has confined himself to Scandinavia and the ASEAN nations. He is married to a Thai woman who worked at the export firm “palmax”run by KP in Bangkok. It appears that the LTTE too relies much on Thailand as a logistical base. A recent Janes Defence weekly report highlights this -

“While Cambodia is the hub of the LTTE East Asia Network, Thailand continues to serve as the most important country for trans-shipment of munitions and coordination of logistics… its excellent communications infrastructure, proximity to former war zones in both Cambodia and [Burma] and its western coastline facing the Bay of Bengal and Sri Lanka beyond have made Thailand the ancient interface between the LTTE’s war zone.” the Janes report says.

KP has been known to have set foot in Sri Lanka through the Katunayake International Airport only twice after 1981. The first was in 1987 after the Indo – Lanka accord and the second was in 1989 after the Premadasa talks. At that time he returned with Prabakharan’s wife Mathivathany and the elder kids Charles Anthony and Thuvaraga staying in Denmark.

KP kept away from Sri Lanka even when his mother and sister died when the boat they were travelling capsized at sea.But he is known to have made several trips clandestinely by sea to Mullaitheevu coast.

Selvarajah Pathmanathan is now widely known as KP. But within the upper echelons of the LTTE there is another name for him. It is “Kazhuthai” or Donkey. This was a name bestowed affectionately by Prabakharan himself. The donkey is an animal that carries loads on its back. KP is a man whose efforts result in loads of arms being supplied to the LTTE. Hence the name donkey to KP.

It is astounding that Selvarajah Pathmanathan a man of humble origins from Myliddy is has metamorphosed into KP the transnational purchaser and transporter of arms.It is amazing to think that this arts undergrad is now dealing successfully with dangerous arms merchants in many parts of the globe.

The chief procurer of arms for the LTTE is a man who has made himself almost indispensable for the LTTE. He like Prabakharan is very much responsible for the growth of the LTTE. KP is a man whose knowledge and information would be of great value not only to Sri Lanka but to intelligence agencies of several countries.

If KP has really been arrested by Thai authorities then that could be the single biggest blow received by the LTTE supremo in recent times.The truism about no man being indispensable may be correct but as far as the LTTE is concerned KP is simply not dispensable.

While Sri Lanka was reportedly sending a top police team to interrogate KP in Thailand Indan Foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee was already in Bangkok an a pre-arranged official visit. He sought clarification with Thai authorities on KP . This is what a PTI report datelined Bangkok said

“LTTE leader K Padmanathan, an accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has not been detained in Thailand, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here today.

“We have been informed that the person (Padmanathan) is not yet detained,” the Minister said when asked about reports of the LTTE leader’s detention here this week.

This information was conveyed by the Thai government to the Indian mission in Bangkok and “we are depending on that”, he said.”

If this PTI report is correct about what was told to Mukherjee that means KP remains as elusive as ever. If so it is once again a case of “catch me if you can”

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