New Delhi, June 16: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet against 13 persons, including three Indian and 10 Lankan nationals, in the India-Sri Lanka illegal drugs and arms trade case relating to attempts to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant organization which once sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka.
The chargesheeted men had conspired with the accused in the Vizhinjam Arms case for exploiting the illegal drugs trade in India and Sri Lanka for funding, amassing and stashing weapons for the revival of LTTE in India and Sri Lanka, the NIA said. “The drugs were being sourced from one Haji Salim, who is suspected to be residing in Pakistan. The accused persons had been using various foreign WhatsApp numbers to carry out the clandestine trade,” said the anti-terror agency.
Investigations in the case had exposed their conspiracy to fund the revival of LTTE through the drug trade. The accused were chargesheeted on Thursday under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.