New Delhi. NIA on Thursday (June 15) filed a Chargesheet against 13 persons, including Lankan nationals, in the India-Sri Lanka illegal drugs and arms trade case relating to attempts to revive the LTTE in India and Sri Lanka.
The charge sheeted 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 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.
Investigations in the case had exposed their conspiracy to fund the revival of LTTE through drug trade. They were arrested at the Trichy Special Camp. Investigations had further revealed that the accused were using the proceeds of crime to live a lavish life. Several mobile phones with pre-activated Indian SIM cards were seized from them. NIA also seized various digital devices, documents relating to drug transactions, cash to the tune of Rs 80 lakh and nine gold bars during the course of the investigations. This cash and gold were proceeds from the sale of narcotics and were being channelled through hawala networks between Chennai and Sri Lanka. Several transactions using Crypto platforms were also unearthed between the accused.
NIA had filed the case suo-moto on 8th July, 2022 and arrested 13 persons. The accused charge sheeted under various sections of the IPC, UA(P) Act 1967 and NDPS Act include three Indians, Selvakumar. M, Vigneshwara Perumal @ Vicky and Iyyapan Nandhu@Ayyappan Nandhu. The remaining 10 are Sri Lankans.
While Vicky and Nandhu were arrested in April this year, the others were arrested in December 2022.
