Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in an interview with the Hindu, has expressed fears of a resurgence of the terrorist outfit the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), accusing the current Sri Lankan government of letting down its guard.

Commenting on the arrest of four ex-LTTE members for plotting to assassinate TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran, Rajapaksa said: “They [Maithripala Sirisena government] removed military camps and reduced the level of intelligence operations. Now they are seeing the results of that irrational action.”

Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) arrested five men, four of whom were formerly with the LTTE for plotting to kill Sumanthiran, a Tamil National Alliance MP who has been a key negotiator, along with Leader of Opposition and TNA leader R. Sampanthan, engaging the government on Tamils’ expectations.

Rajapaksa – who spoke to newspersons in Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka’s North Central Province – said while in power he had rehabilitated around 12,000 LTTE members. However, his government often pointed to a possible revival of the LTTE and justified the heavy surveillance and military presence prevalent in the north and east.