The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet against a man who was working as a production executive in the Tamil film industry in connection with a case related to the revival of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in India and Sri Lanka.
Lingam A alias Adilingam is the 14th accused to be named in the chargesheet. So far, 16 people have been named as accused in the case.
Adilingam has been charged with conspiring and acting to revive the proscribed terrorist organisation through alleged illegal trade in narcotic drugs and arms. He acted as an agent to collect hawala money obtained from the sale of narcotic drugs which were then used to promote LTTE activities, said the NIA.
In the supplementary chargesheet filed before a special court for NIA cases in Chennai, the central probe agency said Adilingam was employed as a production executive while working for the LTTE. Adilingam had ties with a drug dealer and his son who are citizens of Sri Lanka, as per the NIA.
The probe agency had filed a chargesheet against 13 accused in the case before the special court in June 2023. They were charged with hatching conspiracies in various parts of Tamil Nadu to carry out terrorist activities and illegal drug trade in the territorial waters of the Indian Ocean.
The drugs were being sourced from one Haji Salim, who is suspected to be residing in Pakistan.
The NIA had filed the case suo motu on July 8, 2022 and arrested the 13 people from Tamil Nadu.
LTTE was a Tamil militant organisation that was active in Sri Lanka from 1976 to 2009, with a goal to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the northern and eastern parts of the country. Following a bloody civil war, the group was destroyed in 2009.