Country-made guns & LTTE links: NIA raids two locations in Tamil Nadu, arrests 2 men
Two men were arrested by the NIA in Tamil Nadu’s Salem for manufacturing country-made guns. NIA officials are also searching the house of a man in Sivagangai district for reportedly having links to the banned LTTE.
In Short
- NIA officials raided two locations in Tamil Nadu
- 2 men were arrested for manufacturing country-made guns
- Another person's house was searched over alleged links to the banned LTTE
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided two locations in Tamil Nadu and arrested two men from Salem for making country guns and allegedly making crude bombs. In the second raid in Sivagangagi, the residence of a man was searched over allegations that he had contacts with the banned group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The two who were arrested in Salem, Sanjay Prakash and Naveen Chakravarthi, were also arrested earlier for manufacturing country-made guns at a house in Sevvaipettai. They had also been arrested by Omalur police for trying to make guns. They also allegedly tried to make crude bombs.
According to the NIA, they were engaged in manufacturing of illegal firearms, ammunition and explosives with the intent to target commercial establishments and important leaders in Tamil Nadu.
During the searches, incriminating materials, including digital devices (compact discs related to LITE), books on LTTE, photos of LTTE leader Prabhakaran, other LTTE leaders, incriminating documents/invoice/bills for the purchase of materials used for manufacturing of illegal firearms, ammunition and explosive substances, seeds for making poison and jungle survival kits were seized.
The NIA took over the investigation three months ago. On Friday morning, NIA officials initiated a raid on a residence in Chettichavadi near Yercadu hill. The house was rented by Sanjay Prakash and Naveen Chakravarthi and was reportedly used for making weapons.
Simultaneously, NIA is also conducting raids on the residence of Vigneshwaran in the Sivagangai district over the allegation that he was having contact with the banned LTTE.
Sources said that NIA is also probing another angle which points to Sanjay Prakash and Naveen Chakravarthi making the weapons with the intention of assisting or joining the LTTE.