#SHAMSTAHIRKHAN #SRILANKA #LTTE #TAMILIANS
One month after the brutal assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, the crack special investigation team (SIT) has managed to edge considerably closer to unravelling the complex plot behind the shocking crime that stunned the nation.
The exhaustive investigation process and interrogation of key suspects picked up so far have established that the plot to kill Rajiv Gandhi was first hatched in October 1990 deep in the jungles of Jaffna. The motive is now understood to have been related to the political tremors then emanating from New Delhi. The then prime minister V.P. Singh was battling for survival following a threat by the BJP to withdraw support to his minority National Front government.
Across the Palk Straits, in the forest hide-outs of Jaffna in north-eastern Sri Lanka, the LTTE leadership met for a crucial assessment of the situation. The meeting decided that the chances of Congress(I) president Rajiv Gandhi returning to power were now almost certain. For the extremist organisation struggling for Tamil Eelam, this meant a possible re-induction of the IPKF in Sri Lanka and a certain crackdown on the elaborate LTTE network established in Tamil Nadu.
Even before the National Front government finally collapsed, the LTTE had made up its mind to prevent Rajiv Gandhi from regaining power even if it required the ultimate deterrent - his assassination. By early November 1990, the V.P Singh government was voted out and Rajiv Gandhi was virtually back in power, shooting from behind Chandra Shekhar's shoulder. The possibility of a mid-term poll loomed ever larger. The LTTE was getting desperate.
The denim jacket put together from pieces at the blast-site
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Realising that Rajiv as prime minister would be a near-impossible target, it was decided that they should strike while his security status was still that of an opposition leader and election campaigning would render him even more vulnerable. In end-November, the elusive LTTE supremo Pirabhakaran, having decided on the physical elimination of Rajiv Gandhi, summoned four trusted lieutenants - Baby Subramaniyam, Murugan, Muthuraja and Shivarasan - to finalise the contours of an assassination plot. Subramaniyam and Muthuraj a were summoned from Madras where they were staying at the time.
In the first week of December, Pirabhakaran made his decision known to the four members of the team he had summoned. The actual details of the operation were left to them but each was assigned a specific task.
Baby Subramaniyam, a prominent ideologue of the LTTE, was
Haribabu's camera (circled) which contained the crucial film that recorded the fateful moments
But even though the IB had established Karunanidhi's sympathy towards the LTTE and its links with the DMK, it was utterly in the dark regarding the extremist group's plan to liquidate Rajiv Gandhi. The external intelligence organisation, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was equally clueless about the existence of the plot.
Meanwhile, by the beginning of 1991, the four lieutenants of Pirabhakaran had already set the plan in motion. Baby Subramaniyam and Muthuraja were back in Madras. Both were engaged in the crucial first stage of the plot - identifying and recruiting local people who would eventually harbour the assassination squad.
family which had shifted to the area where the press was located. He advised Nalini to help Bhagynathan in his new venture after her normal office hours. The press premises, in any event, offered the perfect cover for a suitable hide-out. The second stage of the operation - recruiting the entire family - had begun. Baby's strategy of convincing Nalini to help Bhagynathan run the press was starting to pay off. Nalini was exposed to the LTTE literature which was then being churned out and conveyed one key message: Rajiv Gandhi was solely responsible for the "crimes" perpetrated by the IPKF in Sri Lanka.
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12 мар 2019
