Training of Militants

During the period between August 1983 and May 1987, India provided aid by way of its intelligence agency, RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), in areas of arms, training, and economic support to not only the Tamil Tigers but also to five other Sri Lankan militant groups. Over these few short years, 32 camps were set up across India to help train 495 Tamil Tiger militants.

Out of the 495 militants, 90 of them were women who were trained in 10 batches. To ensure its secrecy and to avoid detection by the Sri Lankan government, the training sessions were held at various places in India. The first group of Tamil Tigers were trained in a programme called “Establishment 22” which was held in Chakrata, Uttarakhad. The second group, which included the Tamil Tigers intelligence chief Pottu Amman, was trained in Himachal Pradesh. Eight other groups of the Tamil Tigers were trained in Tamil Nadu. Ironically enough, the person who had carried out the assassination of the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the person who was the key conspirator of the plan to assassinate him, were in the batch of the militants who were trained by RAW in Nainital, India.