6.1.2007

Shanmuganathan alias Charles, was the man behind many terrorists attack on civilians and VIPs in the South.

Head of LTTE's 'military' intelligence wing Shanmuganathan Ravishankar, alias Charles was reported killed along with three other terrorists following an ambush by Sri Lanka elite forces, in the general area North of Mannar, last evening (January 05), said the defence sources.

Charles was known to be another self-styled colonel of the terrorist outfit and the deputy to Pottu Amman, the chief of LTTE's intelligence wing.

According to the sources, the army elites had ambushed a vehicle movement carrying Charles and his companions. A senior defence official told defence.lk that the attack was carried out with accurate ground information received from LTTE dominated Wanni region.

Charles the Man behind many massacres :
Shanmuganathan Ravishankar alias Charles was one of the most dangerous criminals who had planned most of the civilian massacres and terrorist attacks in the Island's south. The most heinous civilian massacre planned and executed by Charles was the bombing of Central Bank, Colombo in 1996. In this attack, 86 civilians were killed and over 1400 others suffered injuries.

According to defence intelligence sources, terror chief V. Prabhakaran had presented a "Pajero" jeep to Charles for his success in the Central Bank bomb attack . Charles was also known to have involved in terrorist attacks at Kolonnawa Fuel storage, Kelanithissa Power plant, JOC bomb in Colombo, and assassinations of key political figures and armed forces personnel in the country.

Further, it has been reported that Charles had been able to win the confidence of V. Prabhakaran due to his specialised knowledge in Colombo. According to intelligence reports , he was the principal handler of the terrorist network in Colombo and was the person who used to brief plans of terrorists' attacks in the South to the LTTE leader. Also, he was the person in charge of luring suitable security forces' members to act as moles for the terrorists outfit.

However, defence.lk through its sources from Wanni has learnt that there had been a long standing status conflict between Pottu Amman and Charles. Pottu Amman being senior to Charles in the outfit said to have become jealous of Charles for his ability to win confidence of the terrorist leader. Just before the 2002 ceasefire, Prabhakaran had to move Charles to Batticaloa due to the rising hostility between his two intelligence leaders. It was only in 2005; Prabhakan could bring Charles back to Wanni.

Wanni sources further say that the loss of Charles is a far greater loss to LTTE than it had suffered when it lost its political head S.P. Thamilchelvam in November last year.

Courtesy - Sri Lanka Defence