Shanmugam Kumaran Tharmalingam (; alias Selvarasa Pathmanathan, Kumaran Pathmanathan or simply KP) (born 6 April 1955) is a former prominent member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Pathmanathan was on Interpol's most wanted list for various charges including arms smuggling and criminal conspiracy. He is also wanted by India's law enforcement agencies in connection with the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and for violation of the Terrorist Act and the Indian Explosive Act. He was arrested on 5 August 2009. Pathmanathan was released from prison on 17 October 2012, when the complaints against him by Sri Lanka were withdrawn.
Early life
Little information is available on Pathmanthan's early life. He was born Shanmugam Kumaran Tharmalingam on 6 April 1955 in the town of Kankesanthurai in the Jaffna District of Ceylon. Pathmanathan, who can converse in Tamil, English, French and Sinhala is known to have left Sri Lanka in 1983.
Aliases
Pathmanathan is known to use more than 23 aliases and masks. In addition, his last name can be spelled as Padmanadan or Pathmanaban or Pathmanadan or Pathmanathan, hence there are numerous variations of his name.
Involvement in LTTE
Fund raising activities
Pathmanathan was one of the top LTTE officials and the chief procurer of arms for the organization. He ran a global network of LTTE offices which were engaged in its weapons procurement, logistics and money laundering operations.
Initially based in Malaysia, where he set up a shipping company in 1987, he was forced to move out after the Malaysian Special Branch cracked down on LTTE activities in the country in 1990, culminating in the seizure of an LTTE ship the same year. Pathmanathan then moved to Thailand, which became a safe haven for the LTTE. There he established himself as the head of banking, procurement and shipping for the LTTE. He is believed to have obtained citizenship of Thailand.
According to a report by Jane's Intelligence Review:
In Thailand Pathmanathann set up and led the "KP Department", the procurement arm of the LTTE, the oldest international wing of the organisation. He was responsible for equipping the rebels with a modern-day arsenal which enabled them to challenge the Sri Lankan Military and to fight a high intensity war. He procured modern hardware, paid for them through secret bank accounts, and shipped them to the rebels using a merchant shipping network operated by the "KP Department", known as the "sea pigeons". Apart from setting up a number of lucrative businesses in Thailand, Pathmanathan established a state-of-the-art boatyard in the country, which manufactured over a dozen different boats, including mini-submarines and suicide boats.
The "KP Department" was complemented by another international wing of the LTTE called the "Aiyanna Group". While the "KP Department" acted as the procurement arm of the LTTE, the Aiyanna Group looked after the fund raising and intelligence operations of the organization. Jane's Intelligence Review estimated in 2007 that the LTTE earns between $200–300 million per year through their fund-raising activities and numerous illegal businesses.
The heads of both departments operated under the direct guidance of the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and intelligence head Pottu Amman, both of whom were also on the Interpol most wanted list.
Rajiv Gandhi assassination
On 21 May 1991, former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber at a public meeting in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. The assassination was carried out by the LTTE suicide bomber Thenmuli Rajaratnam, also known as Dhanu, who detonated an RDX explosive-laden belt tucked below her dress as she bent down to greet him.
Intelligence agencies believe that Pathmanathan had links with the planning of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. The Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) approached 23 countries in 2001 requesting information regarding LTTE members who they believed were linked with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Sweden, where Pathmanathan was believed to be hiding at the time, was one of the countries.
The Interpol Headquarters in Lyon, France, also issued a red notice against Pathmanathan, which requests member states to arrest the suspect and hold him for extradition. The notice stated, "Tharmalingam (Pathmanathan) is alleged to have been involved in the murder of Rajiv Gandhi on 21 May 1991 in Tamil Nadu, India."