Prabhakaran did not have cyanide capsule when captured

E T B Sivapriyan

Colombo, Jun 11 (PTI) He made every fighter of his
guerrilla outfit wear a cyanide capsule to be swallowed in the
event of getting captured, but Vellupillai Prabhakaran himself
did not carry one when he was killed by the Sri Lankan troops
in the last phase of the 30-year-old bloody civil war.

Sri Lankan troops did not find any cyanide capsule on
the LTTE leader's body after he was killed during the final
phase of the 30-year-old civil war, while they recovered
cyanide pills from many of the LTTE cadres and leaders killed
in the military campaign.

"Prabhakaran did not have a cyanide capsule on him. We
did not find any such thing. Many other LTTE cadres had
capsules with them, but not Prabhakaran," top defence sources
said.

Interestingly, the 54-year-old Tamil Tigers' leader
carried his identity card and other items with him which were
later recovered by the army, they said.

Prabhakaran was reputed to have been wearing a cyanide
capsule around his neck and encouraged his fighters to do the
same, saying it was better to take their own life than be
captured alive by Sri Lankan soldiers.

The sources said Prabhakaran was in his uniform when
he was shot dead by the troops and his dress was later removed
to see whether there were any birth marks.

It was also widely believed that Prabhakaran carried a
cyanide pill with him when he visited the then Prime Minister,
Rajiv Gandhi, in 1985 at his residence in New Delhi. Security
officials had a tough time persuading him to leave the cyanide
capsule before meeting Gandhi, but could not succeed.

The LTTE chief had vowed never to be captured alive by
the Sri Lankan forces and had even told his bodyguards to
douse him in petrol and burn him alive in the event of getting
captured.

The sources clarified that he was killed by the troops
and did not commit suicide as speculated by a section of media
and the Tamil diaspora.

The defence sources also said the bodies of
Prabhakaran's wife, younger son and daughter have not been
recovered yet. However, they refused to elaborate further.

On Pottu Amman's body, they said they have not
recovered it yet but believe that he is dead.

The sources said around 200 LTTE leaders and 400
cadres were killed between May 17-19. They said the leaders
included heads of various sections of the rebel outfit --
political, cultural and others. PTI ETB