Contrary to LTTE claims, dissident leader Karuna's brother Reggie is believed to have been killed by a colleague. "We believe the brother of Karuna's ex-driver killed them," a well informed security source said yesterday.
Karuna's ex-driver Ranjan was executed by Karuna shortly after he quit the organisation in March. Ranjan was believed to have warned a senior LTTE cadre over what the source termed as serious financial irregularities in Karuna's command.
The military identified Ranjan's brother as Pushpan. He appeared to have remained with the dissidents despite his own brother's killing to take revenge.
He killed Reggie and two of his close associates and then surrendered to the LTTE," the official.
"This is similar to the recent Kottawa massacre where a dissident helped LTTE assassins to kill eight of his colleagues."
The official said the LTTE reached the scene of the killing sometime after the incident.
According to monitored LTTE transmissions, the LTTE leadership wanted maximum possible security to Pushpan. The LTTE is likely to move him to the Vanni.
The military dismissed the LTTE claim that 40-year-old Reggie and two of his associates were shot dead by the special jungle warfare units of the Jeyanthan Regiment around 5.30 a.m. last Tuesday near the Maduru Oya reservoir. The LTTE also claimed its personnel also recovered communications equipment, weapons with serial numbers erased and some documents.
Another military official said that Reggie carried a satellite phone and was in touch with friends abroad. According to him, Reggie was responsible for a series of successful attacks on LTTE targets in the Ampara-Batticaloa region.
The army pointed out if the Reggie was trapped by so called jungle warfare units in the early hours of Tuesday, the LTTE would have announced it immediately. But the first reports of the killings came on Thursday, 48 hours after the incident.
Senior officers based in the east believe that Pushpan single handedly carried out the killings and gave himself up to the nearest LTTE post. He subsequently led the LTTE to the scene of the killing. According to available information, Reggie had been shot in his face.
However, a Colombo based military official said at the time of the attack, Reggie and a group of associates were on their way to a place in the 'uncleared' area in three vehicles. "He is believed to have traveled in a Land Rover. There had been two Land Rovers and a cab. Apparently the cab had led the convoy and managed to escape the ambush."
Speculation is rife he was returning from Colombo. "We believe he was in touch with a senior EPDP member." But the sources based in the east said they didn't believe Reggie traveled in a vehicle. "No way. If they used vehicles, the LTTE would have targeted them earlier."
Subsequent to the incident, the LTTE had moved in additional units to track down the group who escaped the ambush.
Meanwhile, senior representatives of the security forces and the LTTE last week met at the Jaffna office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM).
Ms Anita Strandberg of the SLMM's Jaffna office presided over the meeting, security sources said.
