E.P.D.P Leader
A Dangerous Criminal.

Chennai, Mar 03, 1997 (SAMS). Sri Lanka government’s closest ally Mr. Douglas Devananda M.P., is a dangerous criminal and a merciless killer according to Mr. T. Mathivaanan who was an area commander for six years in the Eelam People Democratic Party (EPDP). The present Sri Lankan government, which has a thin majority in the parliament, relies on the EPDP headed by Mr. Devananda, which holds 8 parliamentary seats. Some of the MPs from the EPDP were elected by a total vote of as low as eight. The latest allegations against Mr. Devananda shed some light on the activities of the Colombo based Tamil groups which act as mercenaries for the Sri Lankan government.

Mr. Mathivaanan told SAMS that the eight members of the parliament from EPDP including its leader Douglas Devananda were involved in several political murders in Sri Lanka. He alleged that Mr. Devananda ordered the killing of Mr. Karavai Kandasamy who was a prominent member of the People Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Sri Lankan Freedom Party northern region Coordinator Kumarasamy Vinothan and Sri Lanka Broadcasting Cooperation employee Mr. K. S. Raja. Using the small islands off the coast of Jaffna peninsula as a transit point, Mr. Douglas Devananda smuggles illegal drugs from India to Sri Lanka and to other countries. "I was aware that under the direct order from Douglas, EPDP men smuggled drugs from Rameswaram to Kayts and redistributed the drugs in various places in Colombo. I also knew they kidnapped many people and demanded ransom for their release. They even detained Indian fishermen and some of them were held for more than two years." he further added.

Apparently Mr. Douglas Devananda is even ripping off the very government he supports. Even though he has only 200 mercenaries working for him, each month he collects salary for 650 men from the Sri Lankan government. The collected money is shared between Mr. Devananda and some of the corrupt Sri Lankan army generals.

Last year Mr. Devananda accompanied the Sri Lankan president Ms.Chandrika Kumaratunga in many of her trips to Europe and North America. Recently he visited India and held talks with Indian Prime Minister Mr. Dava Gowda, widow of late Indian Prime Minister Ms. Sonia Gandhi and several other prominent leaders.

Having captured the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE last year, the Sri Lankan government is actively promoting the EPDP as the political leaders of the Tamils. The EPDP recently set up many offices in the Jaffna peninsula. Many analysts believe that both Sri Lankan and Indian governments knew about some of the criminal activities of EPDP but still use the group to fight against the LTTE. "There is an agreement between the Indian and Sri Lankan governments that the EPDP is a potential alternate leadership for Tamils" noted one analyst. "But, Considering the criminal activities of this organization, and the lack of support from the Tamils in north and east, it is really doubtful that they can be anything other than a group of mercenaries" he further said.

The Tamils are fighting for a homeland in the north and east of the island nation, claiming that they are discriminated by the majority Sinhalese, who control the government and military. More than 78,000 people, mostly Tamil civilians, have been killed in the conflict.