The City Police arrested a former member of the banned Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) here at the international airport on Sunday before he could board the flight to Malaysia.
Along with the ex-LTTE member A. Kumaraguru (39), the police also arrested G. Thirumurugan (30), a native of Uppur in Ramanathapuram district for assisting him acquire an Indian passport.
Police said Kumaraguru was a member of the LTTE from 1992 to 1997 and had lost his right leg while fighting the Sri Lankan armed forces during that period. He was lodged in the Sri Lankan jail from 2009 to 2012.
According to police, Kumaraguru came to Chennai in July 2014 for treatment and stayed there for nearly a year. He was native of Kodikamam village near Jaffna.
Thirumurugan, a lawyer and a state-level office-bearer of a pro-Tamil outfit, is alleged to have helped Kumaraguru in obtaining an Indian passport to enable his travel to Switzerland via Malaysia.
A travel agent, Mubarak Ali, who is said to have helped Kumaraguru, has been detained by the City Police.
The sources said Kumaraguru got an Indian passport under the fictitious name of A. Arokiadasan giving a fake address in Pamban in Ramanathapuram district as his place of stay.
The plan of Kumaraguru was to go to Malaysia and from thereon to Canada and later to Switzerland to make a livelihood through the refugee grant given by that country. A senior officer said Kumaraguru landed at Tiruchi on Saturday to proceed to Malaysia. Based on information, he was arrested by a police team and handed over to the Airport police station.
A case has been booked against the accused under IPC sections including 467 (forgery of valuable security, will) 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating) and 469 (using as genuine a forged document) besides under the Passport Act and the Foreigners Act.
