Thai police received 20-mln-dollar bribe to free LTTEs Padmanathan: Web site

An Indian web site has claimed that Kumaran Padmanathan, LTTEs logistic mastermind in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was reportedly arrested in Thailand, was freed after he paid a bribe of 20 million dollars to Thai police.

New Delhi, Sept 14 : An Indian web site has claimed that Kumaran Padmanathan, LTTE's logistic mastermind in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was reportedly arrested in Thailand, was freed after he paid a bribe of 20 million dollars to Thai police.

According to politicsparty.com, sources in Thai intelligence agencies were quoted as saying that during his interrogation, Padmanathan revealed the names of several conspirators involved in Gandhi's assassination.

He also gave information about the money routes, procurement of arms and its deployment, and "tonnes of other data."

The web site went on to claim that the entire details of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination revealed by Padmanathan is available with US intelligence agencies, which are said to have exercised a lot of influence over Thailand's military regime.

Padmanathan, who is wanted by Sri Lanka and India in several cases, is considered the chief of LTTE's overseas procurement activities.

The Hindu had quoted Sri Lanka Foreign Secretary Palitha T.B. Kohona, as saying that Colombo had confirmed Pathmanathan's arrest "from other sources," but did not get any official communication from Thailand.

Earlier this week, the Sri Lanka Defence Ministry web site said in a report, "Reliable sources from Thailand reveal that LTTE's chief for cross-border terrorist activities, Kumaran Padmanathan, alias 'KP', has been arrested in Bangkok on 10 September."

ANI