Seevaratnam Prabaharan alias Pulidevan, the so called "peace secretary" of the terror outfit has been placed under house arrest on direct orders of Terror Chief V. Prabhakaran, sources in the Wanni say.

According to information received from defence intelligence authorities, the arrest has been made as a result of a worsening internal dispute among key LTTE figures. An armed gang led by LTTE's intelligence wing leader Pottu Amman had made the arrest few days back, the sources further reveal.

A senior defence intelligence official speaking to defence.lk said, Prabhakaran's desire for fratricidal violence is no secret.

In 1994, V. Prabhakaran ordered Pottu Amman to murder an emerging leader of the terror outfit, Gopalasamy Mahendrarajah alias Mahattaya, as he became too popular within the organization. Pottu Amman, an Interpol wanted criminal like his psychopathic chief, got Mahattaya arrested, tortured him in a dungeon for sometime and finally murdered him together with over 200 of his loyalists. Prabhakaran is holding Mahattaya's family hostage in the Wanni ever since.

Way back in 1973 when the terror outfit was in embryo, Prabhakaran is also said to have betrayed Selvaduarai Yogachandran (alias Kuttimani) because he was perceived as a threat. Kuttumani was arrested on a tip-off from the LTTE itself and later killed in a prison riot in 1983 when the UNP government was in power.

Defence.lk further learns from these sources, that Pottu Amman has framed charges against Pulidevan for treachery against the outfit. The bitter power struggle fought among the LTTE leaders has led to bloody violence even in European countries where the loyalists of different leaders fight internecine battles. According to some media reports, Pulidevan was not seen at the funeral of Balraj, a prominent LTTE leader who died of a heart attack recently.

Pulidevan was a member of the LTTE delegation that engaged in a pretence of negotiations with the Sri Lankan government during the failed ceasefire.