COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Detectives in Colombo questioned Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, the former Tamil Tiger eastern commander known as Karuna Amman, for more than four hours on Monday in connection with an abduction inquiry.
Mr. Muralitharan appeared at the Criminal Investigation Department in the morning after being summoned and left around noon after investigators recorded his statement. The authorities did not immediately disclose which case prompted the questioning or what connection, if any, investigators believe Mr. Muralitharan has to it.
Mr. Muralitharan was a senior military commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam until 2004, when he broke away from the group. He went on to lead an armed faction, known as the Karuna Group, that fought alongside the Sri Lankan military against the Tigers, and later served as a member of Parliament and a deputy minister in the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
In December 2024, the CID questioned Mr. Muralitharan over the 2006 disappearance of Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath, then the vice chancellor of Eastern University, who was abducted and has not been seen since. Mr. Muralitharan told reporters afterward that the questioning concerned that case.
Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, a former deputy of Mr. Muralitharan’s who is widely known as Pillayan, was arrested in April 2025 as part of an investigation into an abduction and disappearance. There was no immediate indication that Monday’s questioning was related to either investigation.
In March 2025, Britain imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on Mr. Muralitharan, along with three former Sri Lankan military commanders, over what the British government described as serious human rights violations and abuses during the civil war, including extrajudicial killings, torture and sexual violence.
