Tamil millionaire businessman held

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 December 1998, 22:31 GMT]
A special Sri Lankan Police investigation team has detained a Tamil multi-millionaire in Colombo who had recently bought a ship for sending supplies to Jaffna, for alleged links with the Liberation Tigers.

Vilvendirarajah, the owner of Liverpool Navigation Co.and other businesses in downtown Colombo was taken into custody by CID officers on Monday, December 21.

CID sources only said that he is being investigated with regards to his assets abroad.

Sources said that Police investigators had visited his businesses in Colpetty and Kotahena in Colombo today to hold inquiries.

They said that Vilvedirarajah had taken out an insurance police for sixty million. The millionaire businessmen is from Valvettithurai (VVT), the home town of Velupillai Prabhaharan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers.

A large number of people from this northern coastal town are in the shipping industry both in Sri Lanka and abroad as sea men and shipping magnates.

SLA and Sri Lankan intelligence say that the many of these are involved with the Tigers in running their global shipping network.

This perception has hindered many VVT businessmen with no links with the Tigers as well in carrying on with their trade in Sri Lanka.