Pro-LTTE group threatens death to Jayalalitha: AIADMK

Chennai, Oct 29 (IANS) A Canada-based Tamil group sympathetic to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers has threatened to assassinate former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayaram Jayalalitha, a party official said Wednesday.

Jaya Kumar, a former AIADMK minister, told the police that a man calling himself Tamil Maindan, a functionary of the World Tamil Eelam Protection Organisation, had sent a letter warning that Jayalalitha would be killed for opposing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

'Jayalalitha would suffer the same fate as (former Pakistan prime minister) Benazir Bhutto for continuing to oppose Tamils in Sri Lanka,' said the complaint.

Jaya Kumar filed the complaint with Chennai Police Commissioner R. Sekar. A police official said the matter was being investigated.

Meanwhile, the advocates' wing of AIADMK filed a writ in the Madras High Court seeking additional protection for Jayalalitha.

Judge M. Jayachandran said he would hear the matter Thursday morning.

Jayalalitha enjoys the high category 'Z Plus' security following previous alleged threats to her life from the LTTE, which is outlawed in India.

Jayalalitha came out strongly against protests this month in Tamil Nadu by political parties seeking a ceasefire in fighting between the military and the LTTE in Sri Lanka.