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Shanmugalingam Sivashankar (Tamil: சண்முகலிங்கம் சிவசங்கர்; 1962 – 18 May 2009; commonly known by the nom de guerre Pottu Amman) was a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel and leading member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka.
Jun 2, 2024 · Six of them — LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman (also an accused in the Rajiv Gandhi case), Daniel, David, Dileepan, Ravi, and Nagaraja — were declared proclaimed offenders.
- Kasturi Building, Anna Salai, 859-860, Mount Road, Chennai, 600002, Tamil Nadu
- Overview
- Early life
- LTTE
- References
Shanmugalingam Sivashankar (Tamil language: சண்முகலிங்கம் சிவசங்கரன்; 1962 – 18 May 2009; commonly known by the nom de guerre Pottu Amman) was a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel and leading member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka.
Sivashankar[lower-alpha 1] was born in 1962. He was from Nayanmaarkattu near Ariyalai in northern Ceylon. He was the son of Shanmugalingam (Shanmuganathan), a clerk working in the up-country region. He was educated at Maheswari Vidyalayam, Canagaratnam Madhya Maha Vidyalayam (Stanley College) and Jaffna Hindu College.
Sivashankar was a supporter of Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) MP V. Yogeswaran and once when they met Sivashankar slashed his forearm and daubed Yogeswaran's forehead with blood. Sivashankar started bleeding excessively, fainted and was taken to hospital. It is believed that he got the nickname "Pottu" (Tamil for tilak) from this incident.
Sivashankar joined the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1981 along with T. Sivanesan (Soosai).[lower-alpha 2] He took on the nom de guerre "Pottu". Seniority in the LTTE resulted in his nom de guerre "Pottu" being suffixed by "Amman" (uncle). After being trained he served briefly as LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran's bodyguard. He was then sent to Tamil Nadu, India to be in charge of the shore operations in the Vedaranyam area. In 1985, whilst he was in charge of the LTTE's camp in Vedaranyam, he was abducted by rival militant group People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE). Talks mediated by a former TULF MP failed to result in Pottu Amman's release and so the LTTE's Shankar abducted PLOTE member Jotheeswaran (alias Kannan) who was later exchanged for Pottu Amman.
Pottu Amman returned to Sri Lanka in 1987. He was sent to the Eastern Province where he was the LTTE's associate commander for Batticaloa District. He clashed often with the ambitious Karuna Amman who wanted to eastern regional commander. One of the factors leading to Karuna's defection to the Sri Lankan government in 2004 was his rivalry with Pottu Amman. Pottu Amman was recalled to Jaffna and in October 1987, when war had erupted between the LTTE and the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), he was sent to Tamil Nadu to co-ordinate the flow of supplies from India to Sri Lanka. He was briefly jailed in India for smuggling. He returned to Jaffna to take part in military operations against the IPKF and was briefly Jaffna commander. After being injured in the stomach he moved to the Vanni to recover.
After recovering Pottu Amman was put in charge of the Tiger Organization Security Intelligence Service (TOSIS), the LTTE's intelligence wing, in mid 1988. Following the IPKF withdrawal in March 1990 and under Pottu Amman's leadership, TOSIS expanded greatly and became a formidable organisation, copying the tactics of Inter-Services Intelligence, Mossad and Shin Bet. As chief of TOSIS, Pottu Amman is believed to have masterminded the assassinations of Rajiv Gandhi, Ranasinghe Premadasa, Ranjan Wijeratne, Clancy Fernando and many others. He also played a key role in the unmasking of the "conspiracy" against LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran by deputy leader Mahattaya. Pottu Amman is believed to have tortured Mahattaya and extracted his "confession". In 1993 two separate divisions were created in TOSIS - National Intelligence Division and Military Intelligence Service. Pottu Amman was in charge of the National Intelligence Division as well as being in overall charge of TOSIS. He was later in charge of the LTTE's Chiruththaigal (leopard) commando division. In 1997 he was appointed military commander of Jaffna peninsula.
In March 2008 Prabhakaran, Pottu Amman and four other LTTE members were charged with the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August 2005.
Sri Lankan Civil War
Origins of the war
•Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism
•Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
•Riots and pogroms
•Black July
Dec 7, 2022 · LTTE Intelligence chief Pottu Ammaan was at the time of the LTTE’s military defeat, the de-facto No. 2 of the tigers. The de-jure No. 2 was Baby Subramaniam who was second only to Prabhakaran in terms of seniority within LTTE ranks. However it was Pottu Ammaan who functioned operationally as the No. 2.
Dec 12, 1997 · POTTU AMMAN, or Pottamman, the former intelligence wing chief of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has now been appointed military commander of the Jaffna peninsula by LTTE supremo...
- Kasturi Building, Anna Salai, 859-860, Mount Road, Chennai, 600002, Tamil Nadu
Shanmugalingam Sivashankar (Tamil: சண்முகலிங்கம் சிவசங்கரன், also known as Pottu Amman (Tamil: பொட்டு அம்மன் is a Sri Lankan Tamil militant. [1] He was indicted by the Indian government's Jain Commission for involvement in the assassination of the former Indian Prime Minister ...
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Dec 9, 2023 · Shanmugalingam Sivashankar (Tamil 1962 18 May 2009 commonly known by the nom de guerre Pottu Amman) was a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel and leading member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka.
