Chennai: Who is Letchumanan Mary Franciska, the 52-year-old Sri Lankan woman the Enforcement Directorate (ED) wants to interrogate?
She is one of those attempting to revive the banned terrorist organisation Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by using dormant bank accounts in India.
The ED has now received permission from a Chennai court to interrogate Franciska, who is now lodged at Puzhai Central Prison. This is in regards to a money laundering probe.
The court, while granting permission, called it a “peculiar case”. The probe agency plans to question Franciska for two days. The sleuths have the court’s permission to carry laptops, printers, and other necessary equipment during the interrogation.
The Sri Lankan national was arrested from the Chennai airport in October 2021. Her case was later handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
During investigation, it came to light that Franciska entered India in December 2019 on a tourist visa. She then allegedly obtained fraudulent identity documents, attempting to access dormant bank accounts. Her alim was to channel funds, allegedly meant to aid the regrouping of LTTE cadres.
It was the Tamil Nadu CID that first booked her for overstaying and securing an Indian passport using forged papers. The case later revealed a suspected plot to mobilise resources for the LTTE’s activities.
It was her statements that led to the arrest of seven others, including T Kenniston Fernando and K Baskaran. The case was subsequently handed over to the NIA, which linked the conspiracy to Umakanthan, a Sri Lankan Tamil based in Denmark. He is a former LTTE operative.
The NIA ascertained that Franciska, acting under Umakanthan’s instructions, sought to siphon over Rs 42 crore from an inactive account in Indian Overseas Bank. Investigators also traced foreign remittances allegedly routed to her associates to support the plot.
In 2024, a tribunal of the Delhi High Court upheld the Centre’s decision to extend the ban on LTTE, noting that remnants of the outfit continued to engage in fundraising and propaganda despite its military defeat in 2009.
The NIA has registered four cases concerning suspected LTTE-linked activities in India and Sri Lanka between 2020 and 2022. Franciska’s is one of these.
