Eleven members of the banned Tamil nationalist Tami Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA) were convicted on Friday and jailed for 10 years for the sensational attack on the Andimadam police station in Tamil Nadu and loot of arms on July 13, 1997.
Twenty two years later, the Chennai special court jailed 11 of the 15 arrested for attacking the police station, about 250 km from the state capital, with pipe bombs and machetes and loot of rifles (5), revolvers (2), live ammunition, communication gadgets and uniforms after thrashing and locking up the two policemen on duty.
Three accused died during the trial and one turned approver. The special judge said the prosecution had proven the involvement of the rest beyond reasonable doubt.
The TNLA was founded by Tamilarasan, a drop out from an engineering college in Coimbatore, to fight for the cause of the landless peasants in the undivided Trichy and South Arcot districts and soon became popular.
Tamilarasan was stoned to death after a dacoity at the State Bank of India at Ponparappi in 1987. Later, the outfit was led by Lenin, who died while attempting to blast the Muthandikuppam police station near the temple town of Chidambaram in 1994. Then under Maran, the TNLA teamed up with forest brigand Veerappan and extended their activities from the cashew groves of Cuddalore region to the Western Ghats.
The TNLA had also blown up the Marudayar bridge in Ariyalur leading to the derailment of the Rockfort Express and death of its 25 passengers in 1986, on the eve of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s visit.
{{/usCountry}}The TNLA had also blown up the Marudayar bridge in Ariyalur leading to the derailment of the Rockfort Express and death of its 25 passengers in 1986, on the eve of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s visit.
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