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.
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SUNDAYOBSERVER.LK
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