08 Feb 2009 HYDERABAD: An alleged LTTE sympathiser, a Sri Lankan Tamil, was taken into custody by immigration authorities at the Shamshabad airport here late on Thursday night.

Twenty-four-year-old Tamileswaran was nabbed in the check-in area while he was all set to board a 6.45 p.m. British airways flight to London. After verifying his travel documents, they profiled him.

‘‘He is a native of Ponnumpur in Trichy and was speaking in Tamil. We verified his passport bearing the UK visa stamp. Upon questioning, he spilled the beans,’’ sources said.

‘‘Tamileswaran, who has been coming and going to Sri Lanka, came to India (from Sri Lanka) in 2006, reportedly by sea, and stayed for sometime in Madurai. He shifted to Trichy and started working as a mechanic.

Later, he obtained a passport (E 3688020) issued at Trichy in the name of Kaliya Perumal Nehru Dasan from Ottapilavilai in Velliyavilai, Sri Lanka, using which, he tried to leave for London tonight,’’ sources said.

Tamileswaran’s father is a fisherman in Sri Lanka. Sources said his brothers, Navaleshwaran and Jagadeshwaran, both members of the LTTE, were killed in a gun-battle a few years ago. One person identified as Ravi, based in Trichy, was the agent who had arranged the fake passport and visa for Tamileswaran.