Government extends ban on LTTE for five more years: Home Ministry

The central government has extended for five more years the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) with immediate effect, the Union Home Ministry said in a notification issued on Tuesday. The Home Ministry notification said that the ban on LTTE has been extended under sub-sections (1) and (3) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967) with immediate effect. 

According to the notification, the LTTE, also known as Tamil Tigers, continued to indulge in violent and disruptive activities which threatened the integrity and sovereignty of India. The group, which was behind the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, has an anti-India posture. It also poses a grave threat to the security of the Indian nationals, the notification stated.

The notification also stated that the activities of the LTTE remnant cadres, dropouts, sympathisers, supporters who were recently traced in Tamil Nadu suggest that the cadres were sent to the southern state to carry out unlawfull activities. The LTTE is a group dedicated to the fight for Tamil independence in Sri Lanka. It was formed by V Prabhakaran in 1976.