Sivaraja Jenivan, who was pardoned by President Maithripala Sirisena, returned home to Kopai in Jaffna.

Jenivan was serving a sentence of 10 years rigorous imprisonment for an attempt to assassinate the President in 2006. President Sirisena was the then Mahaweli Development Minister.

Jenivan was sentenced in July 2015 and was pardoned several days ago, coinciding with the completion of Sirisena's first year as President.

Speaking to media, the former LTTE operative praised the President and said that he was extremely surprised at his gesture.

Meanwhile, he blamed the LTTE for misleading and wasting the lives of the Tamil youth during the war.