18.7.2008

The Sri Lanka Navy has rescued an Indian national who had been under LTTE custody since 2003 with other seven Sri Lankan Tamils while they were fleeing to India on a boat last Wednesday, July 16. The SL Navy patrolling craft intercepted the boat carrying these escapees near Talaimannar on Wednesday morning.

The Indian National, Selvam Sudesh Kannan (28) resident in Madras, who was said to have come to Sri Lanka with other 3 Indian Nationals on 19th January 2003 and went to Kilinochchi as to visit "one of his crew members' relative there ".

Describing his ordeal Kannan said that they had been arrested on 21st January 2003 and kept under LTTE custody while on their way to Kilinochchi. "we had been kept in a torture camp in Kilinochchi and over 150 people were kept under their custody in this camp", Kanna added.

After years in custody, on February 2008, he had been released and assigned duties in terror garage located Mundanpiddi, Kilinochchi. "As the LTTE outfit running short of cadres to occupy their defences, the people hold torture camps under LTTE custody were released and assigned for various duties, sometimes in the defence lines too", Kannan further said.

According to the Kannan, with the help of Lankan Tamils, he has decided to escape the outfit but he was not aware of the fate of three other Indians as the LTTE terrorist had taken them to separate areas..

Sri Lanka Navy has stepped up their search operations from Delft to Talaimannar to prevent supplies to the LTTE and to block the terror escaping routes, Navy sources said.