Kumaraswamy Pushpakumar, better known by his alias Iniya Bharathi, was arrested on 6 July alongside a close associate in a major breakthrough linked to a string of serious crimes committed during Sri Lanka’s post-war period. A prominent figure in Eastern Province politics and a former Eastern Provincial Council member, Bharathi also served as the Ampara District organiser of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), a party formed from a breakaway faction of the LTTE.

The arrest was carried out by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) based on new information uncovered during the interrogation of TMVP leader and former State Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillaiyan, who has been in detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) since April this year.

Both suspects were taken into custody in Thirukkovil and Sandiveli by the CID’s Homicide and Organised Crime Investigation Unit. Investigations revealed that Bharathi, now 45, was a former LTTE member who defected in 2004 to join the Karuna Amman-led faction. He is believed to have operated an armed camp in Thirukkovil before moving into mainstream politics. In 2007 and 2008, he held the post of Presidential Coordinating Officer for the Ampara District and went on to serve as a Provincial Councillor from 2012 to 2015.

According to police, Bharathi and his associate are suspected of being involved in a series of grave crimes in the Eastern Province between 2005 and 2008. These include:

• The murder of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Ariyanayagam Chandranehru and five others in Pulliyankulam, Welikanda on 7 February 2005.
• The killing of Johnson Jayakanthan, alias Sindhujan, on 9 May 2007.
• The assassination of Thirukkovil Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Pillainayagam Udayakumar on 28 June 2007.
• The abduction of Pavie Sivananthan Alagurasah in Thirukkovil on 27 July 2007.
• The double murder of Grama Niladhari officers Nagarasa and Kanaga Anandhi in Kalmunai on 20 April 2008.
• The abduction and killing of Pandith Thirumal Thiruvelvam in Vinayagapuram on 25 September 2008.
• The shooting and murder of Pachchi Rasaiya Kopulan on 21 November 2008 in Vinayagapuram, during which his mother was seriously wounded.

Iniya Bharathi and his accomplice are also suspected of involvement in an arson attack on the Akkaraipattu Magistrate’s Court Complex in December 2022.

The Police Media Division confirmed that Bharathi had been previously named in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report and other investigative records as having directly participated in killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and firearm-related crimes during the war-era in the Eastern Province.