Soosai

Thillaiyampalam Sivanesan (

Thillaiyampalam Sivanesan was married to Sathyadevi, the younger sister of Lieutenant Shankar. They had three children named Sindhu, Madhi and Shankar. Shankar, their youngest child, was killed in a boating accident on July 18th 2007.[8] Soosai did not spend much time with his family due to his duties as head of the Sea Tigers but was very fond of his children.^[9] The family were big cricket fans and were supporters of Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.^[10] On May 14th 2009, Sathyadevi and her two children fled the warzone, boarding a boat in an attempt to escape to Tamil Nadu. Soosai refused to escape with his family, wanting to die fighting for the LTTE.^[11] The family's boat was intercepted at sea by the Sri Lankan Navy as they attempted to flee.^[12] Satyadevi was identified as Soosai’s wife by a Sea Tiger who surrendered to the Navy. She was detained separately with her children and interrogated. Thereafter the family was detained within the Navy camp premises in Trincomalee. They were subsequently released. They currently live in Trincomalee under certain government restrictions.^[13] Sathyadevi later gave an interview for “The Nation” English Weekly, published in Colombo, where she recounted some of her experiences during the war.^[14]

LTTE

Soosai joined the LTTE in 1981 after the

• Unnithan, Sandeep (17 May 2009). "Colonel Soosai new LTTE chief?". India Today.

See also

• Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
• Sea Tigers

References