National Investigation Agency files chargesheet against six accused in LTTE terror funding case

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against six accused in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terror funding case.

Those named in the charge sheet are identified as Letchumanan Mary Franciska, Kenniston Fernando, Baskaran, Johnson Samuvel, G. Dharmendran, and E Mohan. The chargesheet was filed before a special NIA court, Poonamallee, Chennai.

The main accused, Letchumanan Mary Franciska, a 50-year-old woman, was arrested at Chennai Airport last year for holding a fake Indian passport.

The case was registered by Tamil Nadu Police and taken over by the NIA on January 18 this year.

The case pertains to a criminal conspiracy to revive the LTTE by committing forgery for cheating besides using forged documents as genuine to divert funds lodged in dormant accounts to commit unlawful and terror activities.

During the investigation, it was found that Letchumanan Mary Franciska, T. Kenniston Fernando and K. Baskaran entered into a conspiracy with foreign entities to siphon off deposits in dormant bank accounts by using Indian identity documents obtained fraudulently and forging identity documents to revive, revamp and regroup LTTE in India and Sri Lanka, said the NIA.

"They were abetted by Johnson Samuvel, Dharmendran and Mohan in forging Indian identity documents."

Founded in May 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran, the LTTE was involved in armed clashes against the Sri Lankan government and armed forces.