Lankan army finds Prabhakaran's gun, body armour

Sri Lanka on Tuesday claimed to have found slain Tamil Tiger chief Vellupilai Prabhakaran's personal gun and body armour, seven months after overrunning the last Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam bastion in the decisive battle at Nanthaikadal lagoon off the northern coast.

The arms used by Prabhakaran were found buried 15 feet under the ground at Vellamulliwaikkal area in Mulaittivu along with scores of suicide kits and several anti-aircraft guns.

Senior Deputy Inspector General for Vavuniya Nimal Lewke confirmed that the weapon, a M-16A2 with a grenade launcher, was used by the LTTE leader as his personal weapon, local media reports said on Tuesday. Prabhakaran was killed by the Lankan army at Nanthikadal lagoon in Mullaitivu on May 18 last year.

The gun was found along with his body armour and as many as 125 suicide kits, 50 mortar bombs and 25 anti-aircraft guns. Lankan security authorities are still scouring the northern countryside to find the weapons cache of the LTTE.

While retreating, the LTTE had buried most of their heavy weapons in underground caches, which the Lankan army is now searching for.

The arms and the armour are now in the process of being transported to the Vavuniya senior DIG's Office. The search operations were conducted with the Terrorist Investigation Division in Vellamullavaikkal area in Mullaitivu, the defence ministry said. A staggering 2000 kg of explosives were among the recovered haul of war material, the ministry said in a statement.