LTTE rebels sourcing explosives from India

NEW DELHI, June 26 (UPI) -- Indian intelligence agencies said Sri Lanka's rebels are sourcing raw materials for explosives from two major Indian cities.

According to a senior Intelligence Bureau official, armed guerrillas of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are sourcing raw materials for explosives and ammunition from Information Technology city Bangalore and industrial city Mumbai, previously called Bombay.

India's enforcement agencies seized an important commercial consignment of chemicals, which is used in making explosives, at Madurai in southern Tamil Nadu state last month. It was dispatched from Bangalore and was meant for delivery to the LTTE, who have been waging an armed battle against the island government demanding independence.

The consignment -- 500 kilograms (more than 1,100 pounds) of a variety of chemicals including diphenylamine sulfates, some chlorate salts and acids -- was seized minutes before it was to be offloaded at a transit point, the enforcement department said.

"The seized chemicals can be altered to make explosives. The consignment was marked commercial and was to be handed over to some locals and Sri Lankans, who were assigned with the task of smuggling it to Sri Lanka. "We have arrested some people and are investigating the case," said an official.