'Inspired by LTTE, Salem men tried to start guerrilla movement'

CHENNAI: Two youths from Salem, against whom the National Investigation Agency has started an investigation, allegedly confessed earlier that they were inspired by the banned LTTE outfit and were planning to start their guerrilla movement called World Tamil Justice Court (WTJC), they told to police said.

NIA has taken over the case almost 40 days after the Omalur police arrested two men - Naveen Chakravarthy (24), a college drop out and Sanjay Prakash (25), a BE graduate in computer science, from Salem - for possessing a country-made pistol, live rounds, a walkie-talkie etc.

The two were schoolmates and allegedly in touch with an intelligence wingman of LTTE through the ClubHouse app.

The two got attracted to LTTE ideology after reading about the Tigers and decided to start their outfit to carry out guerrilla attacks against illegal stone quarries to stop drug trafficking, end sexual harassment against women and bring water from Kerala.

After their arrest, Q branch sleuths of the Tamil Nadu police interrogated them and found that they had taken a house on rent in Chettichavadi in Salem district where they watched YouTube and made weapons.

The duo allegedly also bought toolkits to make pistols and made bullets after buying ingredients online. They also bought a walkie-talkie online to communicate with each other.

The two were not having any permanent job and their source of income using, which they made weapons, is under scanner.

After making their first pistol, they were on their way to a stone quarry at Theevatipatti when they were intercepted by the Omalur police during a vehicle check.

NIA will also probe their claim of having been in touch with an LTTE man living in Germany.