Fifty-one year old A.C.Shanthan, a relative of LTTE leader Pirihaparan's wife Mathivathani by marriage and formerly closely associated with "Col Kittu" who committed suicide when confronted by the Indian navy, was arrested early yesterday morning by the British anti-terrorism police and intelligence agents at his house.
More than 20 armed policemen has surrounded his house and arrested Shanthan in connection with LTTE activities which are prohibited in the UK because the LTTE is a proscribed organization.
Shanthan is the President of the British Tamil Association but the police think that he is the LTTE's UK head.
Also arrested yesterday morning was 29-year old Goldan Lambert also from the BTA.
Police have been monitoring their activities for a long time after they had organized a big meeting at London's Hyde Park in support of the LTTE and speakers praised the LTTE and its leader.
Police found according to a police source as Shanthan was involved in numerous illegal activities in United Kingdom. Police is of the opinion that Shanthan was involved in abduction, illegal detentions, harassment and torture of Tamils who opposed the LTTE in London.
Police had information from several other police forces and from investigations after the arrest in India of one Ilankovan, a shareholder of Tamilini, a cash-and-carry store in the UK.
Shathan is also suspected of laundering money for the LTTE using several money exchange businesses including some situated in central London.
Recently the LTTE has been trying to sell several of its assets including property.
Why the LTTE is trying to get rid of them, some inside sources say, is because it needs hard cash to buy arms urgently in order to meet military attacks in the Jaffna peninsula which are being planned.
Shanthan who hails from Udupiddy has been watched by police because of reports that members of the Tamil community have been harrassed and forced to donate funds to the LTTE. Many Tamil businessmen and families have been forced to contribute to wards the "final war". They have been even threatened with abduction if they do not contribute.
One of the properties that Shanthan has been trying to sell is in East Ham. It used to be occupied several years ago by Daya Master who returned to the Wanni and is now the LTTE's spokesman. This property has been used as a safe house and also to keep persons Shanthan has kept under detention.
Police are said to be investigating several other Tamils and Tamil businesses closely associated with Shanthan.
One person who was recently interrogated by the police is Anandevi Perimpanayagam to find out about the movement of money according to information released by Tamil sources.
Several money exchanges and travel businesses are being watched by police who think that money transactions that eventually go into LTTE funds are going on in some of them.
Police also think that Shanthan, his second in command Robert Soosaipillai and his associates have been involved in credit card scam and also involved in skimming and cloning credit cards that have been used by LTTE cadres in many parts of the world. Some of those cadres have been arrested abroad.
Police who have investigated the recent credit card scams at petrol filling stations is several parts of the UK are also looking for connections between that and the LTTE.
(http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/6233)
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