TMVP: Karuna collected 8 million rupees ransom per month from Batticaloa

TMVP Confirms Karuna fled the country

TMVP: “We thought Karuna Amman is a good people’s leader but he is the same like Prabhakaran. Prabhakaran and Karuna Amman are two sides of the same coin.”

Shocking reports are seeping through certain sources in Batticaloa about ransom hunts by LTTE’s former Eastern Province leader who broke away to form Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), Colonel Karuna Amman. A figure of 80, 00,000 (eight million) in recent hauls alone has been mentioned by a top level TMVP leader in an exclusive interview with the Lanka Guardian last night. These ransom payments or otherwise also called protection or nation saving payments have been regularly tapped by Karuna Amman from bars, video shops and other business enterprises in the Batticaloa town and surrounds.

This source also claimed that Karuna Amman has fled the country a few days ago fearing an internal conflict within the TMVP, now an unregistered political party apart from being a pseudo-freedom group. He had very good reasons to fear for his life and was left with no option but seek his escape.

In an interview that was recorded by Lanka Guardian he said:

"He’s gone out, but his shadows in here are going way too.”

He added: “We thought Karuna Amman is a good people’s leader but he is the same like Prabhakaran. Prabhakaran and Karuna Amman are two sides of the same coin.”

End of last year Karuna Amman established his unregistered political party in East. But the party had numerous internal conflicts and he did not help to develop any kind of understanding with any of the Tamil political parties. Even within the TMVP Colonel Karuna did not seek or find solutions to many conflicts especially over killings among their own members; Theleepan and Veera being good examples.

Pillyan wing mostly believe that these leaders are sources to LTTE' intelligence head Pottu Amman. According to the TMVP regional leader, "After Karuna party got divided, one group got support from Sri Lankan Army, and other party got strong support from Sri Lanka Navy."

“When Karuna came into the scene, we thought a good for the people of the east away from the tyranny of the LTTE but we only got trapped under a similar situation but with a different name.

"Karuna's mission lost its visions on the ground like the LTTE. But that is good opportunity for the Government and Armed forces. They can finish the LTTE while using the TMVP,” the source of this information indicated.

He confirmed to the Lanka Guardian: “Karuna for sometime has been of a diminishing value to the government and the troops with the LTTE activity curbed more and more in the east. This is evident from the progressive marginalization of Karuna and his cadres during the security forces operation in the east, particularly after Vakarai."

According to our interview: "When he started, Karuna had two issues in his appeal to the people for support: denouncing the larger than life image of Prabhakaran, and the LTTE's discrimination against the people of the east. Both are negative concepts. Karuna's intention to relieve the liberation struggle of the Tamils from the cruel clutches of Prabhakaran," remains unfulfilled."

Now he has failed in this mission and fled the country after bloating up his bank accounts with ransom funds and whatever he had collected from the government sources.

The source has some information about secret collaborations with the Sri Lankan Intelligence unit but for fear of terrible repercussion to him, he was unable to be specific on them.

This interview was a spontaneous one offered to us over the telephone by calling us voluntarily. The source said that this was the voice of his heart and that Colonel Karuna should be exposed as well as his deeds for the past few years. He begged us to listen carefully and have what he said published in the Lanka Guardian. He also assured that his credentials could be checked with the people in the east and the TMVP cadres.

We reproduce a part of that conversation, slightly edited to be clear about the intended message:

Q: Hello

A: Hello Annai (elder brother), Good Evening, sorry about disturbing you but I need to discuss with you some secret details. Can you please listen to me?

Q: But now 12.30 a.m. Anyway tell me.

A. Thanks.

Q What happened to Col. Karuna?

A. Karuna fled the country, he trapped us.

Q: Why are you calling him only Karuna, without his status. He is your leader?

A. Yes, but not now. He is the same as Prabkakaran, both of them trapped us and our people and our boys.

Q. Where has Karuna fled; now where is he living?

A. Actually I don't know which country he is currently living in. But I know he is living abroad. Please I can't expose because we are humans also; we respect the rights of living of the any people.

Q. What happened to the TMVP?

A. It was divided because of Karuna's plans without vision and his selfish motives.

Q. Then your political wing?

A. Karuna selected some of his personal friends and cousins for the political wing of the TMVP. Political wing is only a joke.

Q. What is happening in the Batticaloa area and other parts of the east?

A. Nothing special. Karuna's cadre has been busy collecting ransom every day from innocent people. After that they are put into his personal accounts.

Q. How much ransom collected from Batticaloa per month?

A. A lot money. I also went along in this collection business in the past and also the LTTE period. I think Karuna collected more than Rs 8 Million per month.

Q. He has government funds?

A. Yes.

Q. Other benefits from Government?

A. Can’t reveal because of some security matters.

Q. What do you think about your future? Also the TMVP's future?

A. It's same with the LTTE. LTTE faces fatal factionalism. Karuna’s party also faces that and this is an unfortunate situation. We are only puppets for the Government and Intelligence Units. Karuna is responsible for this situation.