Former LTTE Trincomalee leader who was indicted on charges of having attacked army camps, assaulting soldiers and killing them was acquitted yesterday by the Trincomalee High Court Judge R. Amal Ranaraja.

Siva Subramaniam Varadanadan alias Paduman had been accused of carrying out the attacks and killings between July 1, 2001 and Dec. 31, 2001. He functioned as the LTTE leader of Palampatar and was indicted by the Attorney General under the 1979 Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Paduman surrendered to the army on the Vanni East front during the last phase of the conflict in early 2009. Military sources told The Island that Paduman had been held in LTTE custody since March 2004 for his alleged involvement in the revolt spearheaded by Karuna Amman, the then Batticaloa leader. The LTTE detained him after the SLAF had flown him from Trincomalee to Kilinochchi following a request made by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission on behalf of the LTTE.

Karuna refused to board the SLAF chopper in defiance of orders from Kilinochchi and escaped.

During peace talks arranged by Norway during the then Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as the Premier, Paduman represented the LTTE in negotiations. (SF)

Source: The Island (Sri Lanka)