Probe Agency ED To Question Lankan Woman Over Attempt To Revive Terror Group

The Enforcement Directorate has obtained permission from a Chennai court to question Sri Lankan citizen Letchumanan Mary Franciska regarding a money laundering investigation connected to alleged attempts to resurrect the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a Tamil terrorist group.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials are permitted to bring laptops and printers during the interrogation.

Franciska, who has been detained at Puzhal Central Prison since her October 2021 arrest, will be interrogated for two days within the prison facility. In its ruling earlier this week, the court described the situation as a "peculiar case" and authorized ED officials to utilize laptops, printers, and other essential equipment during the questioning session.

According to investigators, Franciska arrived in India on a tourist visa in December 2019. She stands accused of acquiring fraudulent identification documents, attempting to access inactive bank accounts, and directing funds allegedly intended to support the regrouping of LTTE members.

Her detention at Chennai airport in October 2021 triggered a broader investigation. The Tamil Nadu CID initially charged her with overstaying her visa and obtaining an Indian passport through falsified documents. The investigation later uncovered a suspected conspiracy to gather resources for LTTE operations.

Reports indicate Franciska's statements led to the capture of seven additional suspects, including T Kenniston Fernando and K Baskaran. The case was subsequently transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which connected the plot to Umakanthan, a Sri Lankan Tamil residing in Denmark who is described as a former LTTE operative.

The NIA claims that Franciska, operating under Umakanthan's guidance, attempted to divert over Rs 42 crore from an inactive Indian Overseas Bank account. Investigators also identified foreign financial transfers allegedly directed to her associates to fund the conspiracy.

Last year, a Delhi High Court tribunal upheld the Centre's decision to extend the LTTE ban, noting that remnants of the organization continued fundraising and propaganda activities despite the group's military defeat in 2009.

Franciska's case is one of four registered by the NIA between 2020 and 2022 concerning suspected LTTE-related activities in India and Sri Lanka.