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Rediff.com  » News » Tamil Tiger arrested in Australia

Tamil Tiger arrested in Australia

By Natasha Chaku in Melbourne
July 10, 2007 13:03 IST
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An alleged member of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels was on Tuesday arrested in Sydney and charged with supporting a terrorist organisation.

Forty one-year-old Arumugam Rajeevan has been charged with being a member of a terrorist organisation, providing support or resources to a terrorist outfit and making an asset available to a proscribed entity.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said the joint terrorism team from Victoria Police and the AFP arrested the man in Sydney.

The counter-terrorism team will be seeking his extradition to Melbourne.

Keelty said the man in question was from Toongabbie in Sydney's west.

He said the charges related to fund raising after the devastating 2004 Boxing Day tsunami which crippled communities throughout Southern Asia.

"This is to do with fund raising activities that occurred after the tsunami as you might recall and that money was channelled into the LTTE in Sri Lanka," Keelty said.

Rajeevan's arrest follows the Melbourne court appearances of Aruran Vinayagamoorthy, 32, and Sivarajah Yatahavan, 36, who are also alleged members of the Tamil outfit.

They were arrested in May for funding the banned outfit.

The two Melbourne businessmen were charged with being members of a terrorist organisation, providing support or resources to a terrorist outfit and making funds available to a terrorist organisation.

The men allegedly used the Melbourne-based Tamil Coordination Committee to raise funds for the Tamil Tigers under the guise of fund raising for tsunami relief.

It is alleged they bought equipment of the type used in terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka.

The men were remanded in custody until July 24 for a committal mention at the same court.                                   

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Natasha Chaku in Melbourne
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