Bitta wants TN to clarify claim on LTTE chief

Tirupati: Reacting to Tamil nationalist movement leader Pazha Nedumaran's claim that Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabakaran is still alive, All-India Anti-Terrorist Front (AIATF) chairman Maninderjeet Singh Bitta asked Tamil Nadu government to make its stand clear on the claim.

Addressing a press conference at Tirumala on Tuesday, the AIATF chairman said it is wrong on part of leaders to engage in politics with those of terrorist ideology who are responsible for the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Bitta said he will take the claim that LTTE Prabhakaran is alive to the notice of centre. In the interim, Tamil Nadu government should respond on this, he stated.

The AIATF chairman said it is wrong on the part of TN government to release convicts in Rajiv Gandhi's murder case. He said terrorists' ideology will not change despite the fact that they have been punished for many years.

Bitta praised central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking up rigorous measures to combat terrorism in India.