Caging the 'big cat'
by Shanika SRIYANANDA
The bodies of prominent terrorist leaders recovered on May 18th
evening gave a clear clue to the Task Force 8 that they are going to
accomplish their mission - hunting down the world's most ruthless
terrorists. Normally Prabhakaran was guarded by over 100 cadres giving
close protection and outer circle rings. When the soldiers collected the
bodies of some of the noted escorts of Prabhakaran, vital documents and
modern equipment like weapons and satellite phones, they knew that the
`big catch' was still alive.
By May 18 evening over 60 percent of his close bodyguards were found
dead. The location where the bodies were strewn too gave a clue. All
guns were directed towards the island stretch consisting of six islands
just 500 metres away from the 681 brigade Forward Defence Lines (FDLs)
at the lagoon front. Having nearly 500 meters gap in between each
island, the island stretch spans for over 5 km.
"On 18th when the 4VIR troops were clearing the mangroves, they found
that a large group of terrorists were there in small patch of 255 X 200.
And we passed the message to the GOC of the Task Force 8 Col. G.V.
Ravipriya and also the 53 GOC Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne. We planned the
clearing operation suddenly. After the attack we found bodies of Pottu
Amman's son, Jaya, Lakshaman and some other prominent LTTEers, who were
identified by the intelligence officers. The troops found a dummy of
Prabhakaran", at the spot the 681 Brigade Commander Lt. Col. Lalantha
Gamage said.
For the troops of 4VIR and 17 GW, the 18th night was not a usual
night operation. They started their last military offensive until next
day morning. The clearing operations by the Commandos started in the wee
hours of 19th, and the 4VIR soldiers were deployed to clear the same
stretch from the beginning of the FDLs while the Commandos were clearing
the mangroves.
"People like you are afraid of blood, you have to kill", the man,
identified as a devil once said.
On Tuesday 19 morning, the stocky man in Tiger outfit wanting to see
blood even minutes before his death, kissed the earth when the bullet
pierced through his forehead.
The blood-spilling years had come to an end. The man, who sent all
those who tried to block his path six feet under, had his last. The
blood stained curtain of the horrified 30-year drama had come down.
There he lay on the ground, the world's most ruthless terrorist in
his uniform. Still could not believe my own eyes that the man, who made
this part of the world a hell-hole was lying dead. But then, time has at
last caught up with the man; the world's most dreaded terrorist who died
by the very fire that he espoused; stark dead on the muddy waters. Apart
from his head, the whole body is pale as he had been hiding neck deep in
the lagoon for hours and hours.
"I, never felt lonely at any point of time", he was once quoted in
the book - Inside an Elusive mind- by M.R. Narayan Swamy. Yes, he did
not die alone. He made hundreds of his close lieutenants too die with
him. His body was laid on the ground alongside many corpses.
Everyone breathed huge sighs of relief. For is was a historical
moment that had seen the end of the man who through his bloodbaths
created Asia's longest terrorist battle. There, in the murky waters
Prabhakaran, the terrorist had at long last met his fate; his dreams,
his ruthlessness and his megalomaniac attempts terminated after three
decades.
Vellupillai Prabhakaran, the terrorist leader whom the whole world
thought was invincible, was found dead in a small island surrounded by
the muddy waters of the Nandi Kadal lagoon at Vellamullivaikkal in
Puthumatalan. The man, who had the control of over 15,000 square kilo
metres of land, but lost the domination inch by inch, breathed his last
in a tiny patch of land.
Prabhakaran, who loved his life more than anything else, but
motivated thousands of boys and girls to blow themselves up and bite a
vial of cyanide, did not after all bite the deadly powder. He tried to
realize his childhood dream which made the country a blood bath by
desperately trying to flee.
Prabhakaran, who was neck deep in the lagoon water when his loyal
escorts were fighting with the elite commandos and the soldiers of the
4th Vijayaba Infantry Regiment, at last met his death by a bullet fired
by the soldier who joined the last clearing of the island where there
had been an indication of yet another terrorist movement.
Sergeant H.P. Wijesinghe from Allawwa is the happiest soldier among
thousands. He is the first to identify Prabhakaran's body lying near the
dirty waters of the small islet.
"We were ordered to go forward as some terrorists were firing from
8.30 a.m. today. We were able to kill the remaining terrorists and
started clearing the area. The fat body found was lying on the banks and
I informed the Commanding Officer of the 4VIR Lt. Col. Rohitha Aluvihare
about the body and under his command we brought the body here," he said,
adding with pride and glee that, `I am happy that I was the first to
identify Prabhakaran's body. For he was the man most wanted terrorist
who made our lives a misery. This is the man whom we fought to capture
for decades.' Sgt. Wijesinghe said that he does not have words to
express his happiness.
With no cyanide hung around him, his dog tag TT 3 bearing the number
001 and dated 16.09.95 hung around the monster killer's neck. His Eelam
identity card with his picture bearing number 01543301002 issued on
01.01.2007 and with his personal details like date of birth -
26.11.1954, place of birth - Velvatiturai and occupation - Leader of the
LTTE.
The soldiers recovered his belongings wrapped in a polythene bag. It
contained a gas mask, diabetic drugs, dressings, insulin, hand cuff, two
T56 rifles used by Prabhakaran, glucose, creams for wounds, and most
interestingly a bottle of berry scent moisturizing and vitamin E cream
made in Singapore.Prabhakaran, who was wanted by Sri Lanka, India and
the Interpol for the atrocities he committed against humanity, had
launched a well planned psychological operation in which he tried to
mislead the military through the civilians and the cadres who had
surrendered who told the troops that he had escaped in a submarine
before the 53 and 58 Divisions shut the beach front of No Fire Zone with
a one square km stretch. The military assaults with the support of
artillery and armoury continued in whatever spot that was suspected to
be Prabhakaran's hide out.
In the last few hours of his life, he tried to mislead the troops by
spreading the rumour that he was dead while he was in a desperate
attempt to disappear into the jungles and to hide in the small island
until his plan worked out.
But the soldiers, who surrounded from four corners, did not stop
hunting for the man until they dragged his body from the murky waters of
the Nandi Kadal lagoon.
The military assault continued by the elite commandos and 4 VIR
troops from the wee hours of Tuesday morning, ended the dark era that
had haunted our sacred country at 10.05 a.m. after they captured the
body of the most wanted terrorist in the entire Asia.
Lt. Col. Rohitha Aluwihare, the CO of the 4VIR under 681 Brigade said
that a large number of terrorists came from the lagoon to attack the
soldiers and continued the offensives from 3 a.m. on Tuesday 19.
"Our soldiers had killed over 126 terrorists and there was only an
indication that Prabhakaran was there. We continued our search
operations and at 10.30 the officers in the defence lines informed me of
a body looking like Prabhakaran", he said.
The wide open eyes of Prabhakaran appeared to be still burning with
his greedyday dream. The eyes that burnt the lives of thousands of
innocent men, women and children and even Buddhist priests and other
clergy and his own people and all those who tried to block his path,
were fully open.
The man had been without a shave for days, the grey hair has propped
up and his thick moustache and beard around the chin. The ever chubby
face still bore the anger that he breathed when he was alive. The fleshy
stomach has disappeared and it showed that he had missed his favourite
dishes for days.
His entire body was pale having soaked in muddy waters of the Nandi
Kadal lagoon for hours.
The 1 Commando led by Maj. Krishantha Gunaratne, 2 Commandos led by
Maj. Shamal Silva and 6 Commamdos led by Col. Anil Samarasiri did the
last clearing of the mangroves.
The support of the Armoured Brigade commanded by Col. Indunil
Ranasinghe and the Artillery Brigade led by its Commander Brigadier
Priyantha Napagoda the remaining group of Prabhakaran's escorts could
not move further to take their `Supremo' out of the mangroves.
The 53, 58 and 59 troops, who had sweated from dawn to dusk and made
many sacrifices to record their `biggest' ever `catch' in the history of
the war, had reaped their harvest at long last.
The Commandos, who first launched assaults in the island to repulse
the attacks by the terrorists, had collected the weapons from the fallen
bodies. Unknowingly, the Commandos, in their clearing operation, had
taken a significant pistol.
The number carved on it revealed the identity. It was the pistol with
the number 001 that was used by the monster responsible for mass
destruction of lives, limb and property.
"In this dirty war thousands of parents lost their children and
thousands of wives lost their husbands and all these happened due to
this dirty, ruthless man - Prabhakaran. Today, he is gone and this means
that all Sri Lankans, irrespective of their communities, can be happy
and live peacefully'', the GOC of the 53 Division Maj. Gen. Kamal
Gunaratne said.Maj. Gen. Gunaratne confirming that the world's most
notorious terrorist has met his waterloo, said that the interesting
story of this most ruthless terrorist was that he had `preserved' the
cyanide vial.
"This shows how much he valued his life. Interestingly, throughout
three decades he was showing the cyanide capsule to the world. But he
did not swallow it.
It is sad that the man, who gave cyanide to thousands of youth and
motivated thousands of children to die biting the cyanide, did not do
that himself. Basically, he wanted to live", the Major said.
Though the atrocities committed by him are still fresh in the minds
of thousands who lived outside his domination and also thousands who
were held as hostages, the man who brought the Tamil community to zero
is no more.
But truth is truth and there is no substitute for it. We saw to our
very eyes the terrorist Prabhakaran lying dead. Simply, the so-called
LTTE supremo and the sole representative of the Tamils has breathed his
last. |
