A top woman leader of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been arrested by the Sri Lankan police at an airport here while she was trying to board a flight to Paris.
41-year-old Burugesu Pahiradi, the former chief of the women’s wing of the LTTE’s Sea Tigers, was arrested on Monday at the international airport here by the Terrorist Investigations Division (TD) of the police.
She was nabbed while she was trying to leave the country for France, police said.
According to police, Ms. Pahiradi’s husband Subramanium Jayaganeshan was also a senior leader of the banned Tamil rebel group and was one of those handling the organisation’s financial affairs internationally.
Ms. Pahiradi headed the women’s wing of the LTTE Sea Tigers from 1997—2000 and in 2005 she had fled to France.
Following reports that she had returned to the country on February 9, police launched an investigation and arrested her at the airport.
