Kathirgama Sekarapillai Vinayakamurthy, better known as Vinayagam, a leading figure in the LTTE’s intelligence wing, succumbed to cancer on June 4 in France. His passing symbolizes the closure of a significant chapter, as he was among the last of the LTTE’s senior intelligence members.
Prominent LTTE intelligence wing leaders who managed to evade the Sri Lankan military include Chiranjeevi Master, Pukalaenthi Master, Paramadeva, Thayaparan, and Vinayagam. Notably, Vinayagam and Chiranjeevi Master each held crucial, yet remarkably similar, ranks within the LTTE’s intelligence hierarchy. While Chiranjeevi Master was tasked with overseeing operations in India, Vinayagam led strategic assaults in Sri Lanka’s southern region. Both were considered second-tier leaders of the intelligence wing, directly beneath the intelligence chief, Pottu Amman. Thayaparan, who held a key position in the internal intelligence division, currently resides in London under the name Sangeethan.
Still among the living are two other prominent LTTE intelligence operatives: Kalaiyan, the former head of the Trincomalee district intelligence wing, and Prabha, who led the intelligence wing in the Batticaloa district. Both surrendered to the military in the conflict’s twilight.
Meanwhile, Vinayagam and Pukalaenthi Master were dispatched from Mullaitivu with a team of Black Tigers to carry out attacks in early 2009. Though their mission was unsuccessful, both managed to escape from Sri Lanka. Vinayagam lived a secret life in France until his death, while Pukalaenthi Master is now believed to be in the UK. Chiranjeevi Master, after purportedly negotiating with India’s RAW, now resides in Chennai’s Valasaravakkam, running a high-profile supermarket.
According to credible sources within the LTTE, in February 2009, a unit of Black Tigers under Vinayagam’s command was transferred from the Mullaitivu-Kepapilavu FDL to the Vavuniya area on the orders of Pottu Amman. The squad infiltrated the Aasikulam forest in Vavuniya. Comprising 10-15 Black Tigers, this elite team was tasked with striking a long-surveilled target in the southern region, personally overseen by Vinayagam. Similarly, Pukalaenthi Master led a smaller contingent of Black Tigers, who were also dispatched to Vavuniya for an attack from Mullaitivu around the same time.
Former intelligence wing members of the LTTE revealed to the Jaffna Monitor that the team Vinayagam led was a formidable group of elite Black Tigers and seasoned fighters. Among them was Sempiyan, one of the LTTE’s sharpest snipers. However, during an engagement with the Sri Lankan Army at the FDL, Sempiyan sustained injuries and had to withdraw.
Sempiyan is renowned within the LTTE for his sharpshooting skills; he was credited as the assassin in the high-profile killings of Sri Lanka’s then Foreign Affairs Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in Colombo and EPRLF leader Subathiran in Jaffna. The involvement of a sniper of Sempiyan’s caliber in Vinayagam’s team suggests that the planned attack was of significant magnitude, as indicated by our sources.
LTTE intelligence members told the Jaffna Monitor that while Sempiyan was involved in high-profile killings like that of Lakshman Kadirgamar, he was well-behaved and often a soft-spoken, down-to-earth man compared to others of his caliber in the LTTE. They mentioned that Sempiyan never showed off or spoke rudely to anyone. The fate of Sempiyan is not known to anyone; he is believed to have died in the last battle along with LTTE leader Prabhakaran.
A member of the LTTE’s intelligence wing confided to the Jaffna Monitor that there were whispers among the ranks suggesting Vinayagam was plotting a massive attack on Bandaranaike International Airport, which had previously been targeted on July 24, 2001. He and the Black Tigers were allegedly sent to carry out this attack. Although Vinayagam had remained relatively inactive during periods of peace, these rumors strongly indicated that he was orchestrating a significant operation—if not on Bandaranaike International Airport, then somewhere equally important in the south.
The fate of the planned attack by Vinayagam remains in mystery, as it was never executed. Equally enigmatic is Vinayagam’s escape, as he managed to flee to France via India. What happened to the Black Tigers dispatched with him to the military-controlled area remains unknown.
In the first week of April 2009, credible sources say that Pottu Amman himself orchestrated the escape of Vinayagam’s wife and two children by sending them by boat from the Mathalan coast towards India. However, their escape was thwarted when the Sri Lankan Navy intercepted the boat. All passengers, including Vinayagam’s family, were arrested and subsequently detained at the Boosa camp.
It is important to note that while Pottu Amman facilitated the escape of Vinayagam’s family, around the same time, civilians attempting to flee the Mullivaikkal and New Mathalan areas by boat were shot dead by the Tigers on orders from the LTTE leadership. During the same period, Balakumar, the former leader of EROS who later became a prominent member of the Tigers, was shot and wounded at sea by the Tigers in his own attempt to escape.
It is reported that following the demise of the LTTE leadership in Mullivaikkal, Vinayagam, and his team concealed themselves within the forest region of Vavuniya. One account suggests that he traveled from Mannar to India by boat and then to France.
Another account from former LTTE members suggests that Vinayagam traveled to Colombo and then flew to France from Katunayake Airport. They claim that after Vinayagam’s wife was apprehended and detained by Sri Lankan intelligence services, he had no choice but to collaborate with them, who allegedly facilitated his relocation to France. These sources also argue that Vinayagam, who had over 10-15 Black Tigers under his command, did not initiate any attacks until the very end. The fate of these Black Tigers also remains unknown.
