SPG bared LTTE threat to Sonia

According to the sources, last fortnight the IB intercepted two wireless messages between a Chennai-based LTTE operative and one based in the Jaffna mainland which revealed that the LTTE was serious about targeting Sonia because it feared a crackdown on its bases if she became prime minister.

The sources say the messages specifically stated that for the LTTE, Sonia becoming prime minister would be a 8220;disastrous8221; development.

Intelligence sources say that while the LTTE factor has always beentaken into cognisance while making the threat assessment for Sonia, these threats are the most specific and serious. They say the LTTE had planned sophisticated bomb blasts, probably in Tamil Nadu, where her husband was killed by a LTTE suicide bomber in 1991.

The renewed threat from the LTTE has led to the Tamil Nadu police being asked to commence raids on LTTE hideouts in Tamil Nadu. Some suspects are said to have been arrested.