03 January,2009 02:55 PM IST | | PTI
Elusive LTTE chief V Prabhakaran, who received a massive blow after the fall of the rebels' political headquarters Kilinochchi, may be hiding in the key Tiger bastion of Mullaittivu, Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka has said.
Prabhakaran, 54, is likely hiding in the coastal town of Mullaittivu, Fonseka said on Friday as Sri Lankan army attacked the area around the suspected hideout of the LTTE leader.
The army chief also said the LTTE was now confined to an area of 40 km in the embattled north of the island. Fonseka had earlier said the army's aim was to capture Prabhakaran, believed to be holed up in a bunker, alive.
The Sri Lankan army chief survived an LTTE suicide attack in 2006 outside his office and underwent treatment abroad after suffering serious injuries.
Last year, the army added the specialised Task Force-2 to supplement the four divisions that were engaged in attacking Mullaittivu, the headquarter of sea Tigers.
According to a newspaper report, Prabhakaran lives in a sprawling air-conditioned bunker complex, located 30 feet below the ground, and comes up to the surface only in the night to avoid detection.
Prabhakaran's "extravagant underground bunker is constructed as per his instructions and equipped with air-conditioning and power generators," the 'Bottom Line' had said in a recent report.
The LTTE chief's bunker, divided into two sectors, has a tunnel which connects to a similar bunker complex, and the rebel leader's room is tucked away in the lower-most floor having two exits, a sketch carried by the paper along with the report showed.
A typical day for Prabhakaran, who suffers from hypertension, begins at 5 am when he is served a cup of tea without sugar or milk and is briefed about the battlefront at 6.30 am, the paper had said quoting sources.
"From a powerful radio set, Prabhakaran gives instruction to his field commanders though he himself would not talk directly, and asks his confidant to do the talking. If he thinks that communications are not secure, he would insist on communicating through satellite phones at night," it said.
Not in the best of health, Prabhakaran is attended to by three doctors. "His blood pressure is checked twice during the day," the report said.
For lunch, his aide prepares food without salt which he 'doesn't like at all', but is compelled to eat due to his health.
"He has become a vegetarian because of his illness," the report said, adding "he has light dinners - mostly 'kurakkan' (cereal grass whose seed yields somewhat bitter flour) and some gravy."
The LTTE had subsequently denied that Prabhakaran was sick and claimed that he was healthy and having a normal diet.
