LTTE chief Prabhakaran lived in the lap of luxury

4 Feb 2009

LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran lived in the lap of luxury, even as his guerrilla force fought pitched battles with the Sri Lankan army. A look at Surveillance camera recovered from an abandoned house believed to be belonging to Prabhakaran.

A fully air-conditioned structure with four furnished compartments, the bunker had surveillance cameras, an oxygen plant, an insulin container and a deep-freezer. There were also three sound-proof power generators and an M-16 machine gun. The Lankan military also reported discovering an LTTE prison, which indicated the presence of a possible torture chamber.

According to the military, the two-storied underground-built residential complex was located in a two-acre coconut-cultivated land, which was well fortified, provided with all-round protection from adjacent gun positions and bunker locations.

The Lankan defence ministry also published photographs of the bunker, located about 50 feet below the earth and protected with a three-foot thick layer of concrete. “The underground bunker was fully air conditioned and consisted of four furnished compartments and tiled floors,” it said. Surveillance cameras had been fitted at the entrance of the bunker complex.

Apparently to underscore how it was insulated from aerial bombing, the defence ministry said the air force had previously bombed the location.

Troops found an oxygen plant in what could have been Prabhakaran’s room along with an M-16 machine gun and an insulin container. The LTTE leader is said to be diabetic. Four guard points were located adjacent to the compartment and possibly manned by personal bodyguards. An interesting find was the presence of sound-proof power generators for electricity supply.

On Tuesday, troops got possible confirmation of long-suspected prisons run by the LTTE to incarcerate Tamil dissidents. The defence ministry said it found “a colossal torture chamber-cum-open prison” west of Visuamadu, the last habitation that the army captured a few days ago.

The five-acre prison complex had 10-foot high barbed wire fencing around it, and consisted of tiny cells of concrete and cement with what the army called “thin openings for ventilation”.

The jail chambers had metal doors that could be padlocked from outside. A metal cage-like structure and a long bunker suggested that the complex could have been used also for harsh punishment. A pair of metal handcuffs welded to the ground could have been used for torture.

A ‘canopy-type’ metal structure without ventilation was described by the army as a ‘heating chamber’ for confining ‘traitors’. “Perhaps, it could have been heated using generators as a method of severe punishment,” the defence ministry said.