It never rains but it pours. There seems to be no end to Prabhakaran's misfortunes. His terror empire is being crushed like papadam and soon he won't be able to run anymore after the fall of Elephant Pass and Mullaitivu.

Immediately after the Vanni offensive began, as we reported then, Prabhakaran told some TNA MPs he was hopeful that his allies would be able to muster enough international support to coerce Sir Lanka into stopping the war and until such time he would hold out. It was in keeping with this strategy that some Tamil Nadu politicians led by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi ran riot in Chennai a few weeks ago demanding that the Central government intervene immediately to put an end Sri Lanka's war on terror. LTTE backers the world over mounted massive disinformation campaigns to jolt foreign governments into making Sri Lanka opt for a truce to no avail.

Unfortunately for Prabhakaran Mumbai came under a terror attack forcing India to rethink its policy towards terrorism. And his Indian backers can no longer openly support him. Even Karunanidhi has sought to dissociate himself from the LTTE.

Now, we hear the Congress Party has asked Sri Lanka to extradite Prabhakaran, if captured alive, to stand trial for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. The past few weeks have seen Congress activists campaigning for stern action against the Indian politicians espousing the LTTE cause. On Saturday, Congress spokesman Veerappa Moily told the media, "He [Prabhakaran] is an assassin and we would be very happy if he was extradited to India. We want him to be prosecuted and convicted here for the grave crime he committed."

This call could not have come at a worse time for the LTTE. It has had a far more devastating impact on the LTTE's morale than the loss of Kilinochchi. For, Prabhakaran never gave up the hope that India would come to his rescue. The Congress has by calling for Prabhakaran's extradition, sent a strong message to all his backers that the Central government would not succumb to their pressure and that it would not intervene to save Prabhakaran this time around. So, the Tigers will find themselves stewing in their own juice.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa offered to hand over Prabhakaran to India a few months ago but New Delhi chose to remain noncommittal. India's acceptance of Sri Lanka's offer at this particular juncture could be considered an indication that it is now convinced that the end of the LTTE is imminent.

Prabhakaran has already been sentenced to 200 years RI in this country and one may argue, if captured alive, he must be made to serve his jail term. Others may advocate that Prabhakaran be extradited as India should not be denied the pleasure of dealing with the monster it once took pride in creating.

The question is not whether Prabhakaran should be handed over to India or not but how to catch him. It is being speculated that he has an escape route open and after the fall of Mullaitivu and Elephant Pass he may flee the country.