A man of Sri Lankan nationality, who was allegedly a member of LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), was detained by immigration officials at Pune Airport on Friday while he was about to board a flight to Germany with fake Indian passport.

A police officer said that 37-year-old Suthan Suppaih was detained when he was about to board a Lufthansa flight early Friday morning.

The officials also confirmed that during his interrogation by ATS officials, Intelligence Bureau and the immigration, he admitted that he hailed from Trinuvelli East in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. On his fake passport his name was Marimuthu Raju, a resident of Alangottai in Tamil Nadu.

He has confessed to the IB officials, according to the reports, that he was a member of LTTE from 2003 to 2005 and served as a sentry for the terrorist outfit which was defeated by the Sri Lankan Army in 2009. However, according to Pune Police, no case have been registered against him yet.

He was trained as mechanic and electrician in Jaffna after leaving LTTE in 2005 and later shifted to Dubai. He worked there as a salesman at a mall before returning to Sri Lanka in December, 2014.

A police officer said, “In June, 2015, he went to Chennai on a tourist visa but did not return. In Chennai, he got opportunity to work with a German firm, so through a local agent, Suppiah obtained fake passport in the name of Marimuthu Raju. He was about to leave for Germany from Pune airport today.”

The officer added that with his LTTE background, he could be under the scanner in Sri Lanka and as some countries which has banned the entry of Sri Lankan nationals with LTTE background, he might have decided to use fake Indian passport.

By Prajakt K.