Suspect deliberately used fictitious name to gain entry

M. Prabhakaran, the man who attacked former National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan at the close of a meeting here on Wednesday night, deliberately used a fictitious name to gain entry into the venue. After a night-long interrogation, police produced the accused before a judicial magistrate and lodged him in Puzhal central prison early on Thursday.

Though the colloquium on the ‘Future of Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees in India’ was open to public, participants were asked to register their names and contact particulars for security reasons. Claiming that he apprehended denial of entry had he divulged his real name, Prabhakaran told police that he never intended to harm Mr. Narayanan but had nurtured hatred for him.

As Mr. Narayanan was walking out of the venue, he found an opportunity to throw a slipper at him. He was immediately whisked away by security personnel at the scene.

During interrogation, the accused told police that he had lost control when he saw Mr. Narayanan in close quarters. Even as the VIP went to the washroom alone at one point of time during the meeting, the thought of harming him never came to his mind, a senior police quoted him as saying.

Calls under scanner

Prabhakaran (36) had made several calls to Tamil chauvinists but there was no apparent indication of his association with the ‘May 17’ movement that had organised a protest condemning the meeting organised by ‘The Hindu Centre for Politics and Policy.’ Cyber crime experts were analysing the mobile phone calls of the accused, who lived with a friend near Koyambedu in the city.

He had taken photographs with political party leaders who openly supported the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the cause of Tamil Eelam, he added.

According to police sources, the accused was booked under Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 355 (assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour person) and 507 (1) (criminal intimidation) of IPC. Prabhakaran’s parents who worked in tea plantations in Sri Lanka migrated to Pudukottai district in 1973. He lived in Malaysia between 2004 and 2009.