The package to ceylon

Disclaimer: This is purely a work of fiction, though loosely constructed around a true event.  

02 August 1984

Neelankarai, Madras – 1730 Hrs

While starting the jeep, Natesan couldn’t help wondering about his ill fate. If not for a small mistake, he would have already been a martyr a few weeks back. The bomb carried by him would have turned the Colombo Airport to a raging fireball. But it was not to be. While the bag containing the bomb was being weighed in the Madras Airport, it was found that it exceeded the allowable weight, and he needed to pay an excess luggage fee. His pockets were empty except for the tickets. After days of meticulous planning and hard work, he was forced to abandon the operation and return from the airport just because he forgot to carry extra cash. Today they are going to try it again. By God’s grace, Elam Army’s bomb will proclaim the war against Lanka.

Guindy, Madras – 1750 Hrs

Murugesan kissed his daughter, and said goodbye to his wife before leaving for the evening shift. He has to reach the Airport at 7PM when his shift starts in the luggage handling section. He knew that he will not return home at least for the next few years. The idea conceived by Natesan was brilliant. All they needed was to put a suitcase containing timed explosives on board the Air Lanka flight UL 122 from Madras from Colombo, with the luggage tag indicating onward journey to Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris. The explosives will go off at around 11 PM when UL 122 will be on the tarmac of Colombo Airport and all of the passengers would have disembarked. The suitcase itself will be in the Airport waiting for it to get loaded to the flight to Paris scheduled at 01.30 AM. At the same time there will be two other Air Lanka flights and a Singapore Airlines flight parked in the tarmac. Colombo will get a fiery shock tonight, if Murugesan manages to ensure that the suitcase is loaded in UL 122 without any security check and identification.

Somewhere on Tamil Nadu – Kerala border- 1810 Hrs

A Commander of Elam Army dialled the switchboard of Colombo Airport. Before the receptionist could ask any questions he delivered the message and hung the phone – “A top leader of Elam Army is expected to land in UL 122 from Madras.” 

This was just another ruse planned by Natesan. He knew that now Srilankan Army will increase its presence in the airport and therefore when the bomb goes off, more Buddhist blood will be spilt. It was an audacious idea. But if not for this additional twist, the plan would have worked perfectly. Natesan did not know that the phone lines of Colombo Airport were continuously being tapped by at least two Indian intelligence agencies. Hereafter the script of story proceeded not according to Natesan’s script, but according to the whims and fancies of fate.

Meenambakkam International Airport, Madras – 1850 Hrs

Swami was well known among all the airport staff, but only the chief security officer of the airport knew that on emergencies, Swami had the authority to give any command on the operations of the airport. Other officers who wanted to know exactly which organisation Swami is from and had to be content with an identity card issued by Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. Swami has just been informed that a leader of a Tamil guerrilla group is trying to sneak back to Sri Lanka on a fake passport. Swami’s superiors want to make sure that the guy will not board the plane. If the guerrilla leader was among the people trained by Indian secret service agencies, it will only be a matter of time before the Sri Lankan forces torture him and get all the details out of him resulting in a diplomatic disaster for India. Swami concentrated on the task at hand – 121 passengers coming to board UL-122, and he needed to identify which one among them is a Tamil insurgent. 

  

Meanwhile Natesan had successfully handed over the suitcase to Murugesan, who in turn bypassed security checks, added the necessary luggage tags, including the tag for onward journey from Colombo to Paris and made sure that the suitcase was loaded into the cargo hold of UL-122. Natesan was nervously waiting in the queue to check-in when he noticed that there is additional security. Security personnel were keeping a tight eye on the check-in counter and he could see that some people were being frisked and some taken away for questioning. Natesan knew that being a Lankan Tamilian he will surely be taken for questioning in the customs chamber. He also knew that his fake passport even though sufficient for airport officials, will not stand the scrutiny of Indian security officials. He had to make a choice. If caught, they will suspect something, and the luggage may be rechecked. Now that the suitcase is already on its way to the aircraft, it is not absolutely necessary for him to board the flight. He decided to turn back, and leave the airport. The flight will proceed without any problem if Indian officials do not find whatever that they are looking for. He decided not to take a chance.

Meanwhile Swami just thought of the possibility of the suspect escaping, and ordered to close all the exits of departure hall. But by then, Natesan had already walked out of the airport. 

Inside UL 122 – 1945 Hrs

The captain of the aircraft was asked to conduct additional security checks by the officials in airport and the officials of Air Lanka, and therefore they have rechecked the cargo hold comparing the luggage tags with passenger manifest. There was one suitcase belonging to a passenger who have booked a ticket, but not checked in. The Captain without any hesitation ordered to send the suitcase back to the cargo terminal and informed the ATC that an unidentified baggage is being sent back. He decided not to waste any further time and to proceed with the take-off as scheduled.

Meenambakkam International Airport, Madras – 2020 Hrs

By now, Swami had taken control of the security room of the airport. He has personally checked 120 passengers of UL-122 and was sure that none of them was the person he was seeking for. That left him with the last name in passenger manifest – Natesan, aged 37. This passenger has not checked in, but that does not mean that he has not arrived. Swami had a feeling that the suspect would have panicked at the additional security and decided not to check in. But there was a chance that the suspect may not have left the airport, he may still be inside. This widened the scope of Swami’s search. Instead of 122 passengers, now Swami had to search the entire airport. It was then that Swami received the message that UL-122 took off to colombo on time, at 08:15 PM.

Neelankarai, Madras – 2040 Hrs

Natesan has just received a call from Murugesan that one of the suitcases was removed from UL-122 at the last minute. That means the bomb probably is now in the airport. If left undetected, at 11PM, instead of wreaking havoc at Colombo airport, the bomb will go off at Madras airport. That will be the end of India’s assistance to the Sri Lankan Tamil cause. 

He called up the switchboard number of the airport, delivered his message and hung up. The switchboard operator wrote the message down – “There is a bomb in the airport that may go off anytime now. Evacuate immediately”. It was not new to her. She has received such threats at least twice before, when she had gotten scolded by her superiors for panicking without any reason. This time, she decided she will not get rebuked for falling to a prank. She dialled her officer and calmly informed that there was a threat call. The officer in turn passed the message to chief security officer.

Meenambakkam International Airport, Madras – 2050 Hrs

Swami received the message about the bomb threat from the chief security officer who was contemplating an evacuation. Swami thought about it. If the suspect was still inside the airport, this will be the perfect ploy by his associates to let him escape – a bomb threat that will lead to evacuation. He decided not to fall for it. His superiors wanted to catch the suspect and he was determined to carry out those orders. He denied the request for evacuation and instead ordered the security personnel to search each of the persons in arrival hall to find out if any of them were carrying a ticket to fly by UL-122.

Meanwhile the ATC had informed the customs of the suitcase returned from UL-122. As per norms, the customs officer took possession of the suitcase and moved it to the cargo hall. There were procedures to be adopted in such cases. Documents for unclaimed luggage have to be filled in triplicate, and then, the Senior Customs Inspector can inspect the contents of the luggage. No one below the level of Senior Inspector was allowed to do the same, as gold smuggling was very rampant, and the Govt. did not trust junior officers with bricks and biscuits of gold. However, the Senior Inspector had left early that day as he was sick, and his replacement was expected to reach only by midnight. The deputy inspector in charge decided to wait till then. There was no hurry anyway. The customs officers were unaware of the bomb threat. 

Neelankarai, Madras – 2130 Hrs

Natesan has just received another call from Murugesan informing that airport has not yet been evacuated. Murugesan himself did not know where the suitcase is currently. He also informed that the security officials, instead of checking luggage or evacuating the airport, have sealed off the departure hall and was frisking and checking each of the passengers. Natesan’s heart was beating fast. The bomb was set to go off at 11 PM, however it was a crude device and therefore may go off any time after 10:30 PM. With a shaking voice, he called the airport again and repeated his earlier message about the bomb.

Meenambakkam International Airport, Madras – 2140 Hrs

This time Swami decided to treat the bomb threat a bit more seriously, and allowed the chief security officer to spare a few of the staff to search the airport and premises. He still declined to evacuate the airport.

Officers’ quarters, Meenambakkam – 2210 Hrs

The Customs Senior Inspector was just informed by his deputy that the police was asking permission to search the bags under the possession of customs. He was also informed of the bomb threat. However, the rules were clear. The bags were to be inspected only by the Senior Inspector or his superiors. He ordered the deputy to hold the police till he arrives. He started getting dressed, while cursing his colleague who ended his shift early.

Meenambakkam International Airport, Madras – 2240 Hrs

By the time the Senior Inspector reached the cargo hall, Swamy and chief security officer had also reached there. By then Swami was also beginning to doubt whether his priorities were wrong. He was shocked to hear that a suitcase was sent back from UL-122 at the last minute. It had the name tag of Natesan, the same passenger who did not check in. If he did not check in, then his luggage should also not have been there. Therefore there was no more doubt of what the bag contained.

Swamy showed his identity card to the Senior Inspector of customs, and informed him that he is taking possession of the suitcase. The customs officers no longer had any misgivings of the bag containing any gold. They were only relieved to see that the responsibility is no longer theirs. Swamy looked around. There was a group of passengers resting outside the cargo hall, mostly women, probably waiting for a transfer flight. Bomb squad was called in, and they were on their way. But Swamy did not know how much time he had at hand before the clock stops ticking. He grabbed the suitcase and started to run towards the door to the open airfield. But it was already late. 

At 10:50 PM, 02nd August 1984, the timer finished its count, and an electric pulse fired up the detonator. In the explosion, the glasses of the hall burst out while the roof caved in. 

Meanwhile, Natesan was sitting alone in a room in his house, with a cyanide capsule in his hand. When the pages of the history of Elam will be written, he knew that his name will be listed not as a martyr, but most probably as a traitor, the one whose actions unleashed the wrath of Indian Govt. against the cause of Tamil Elam. 

The Actual Story

On 02nd August 1984, a bomb blast near the international arrival hall of Madras Airport claimed the lives of thirty people. A portion of the airport was razed down and had to be completely rebuilt. Five Indians - Saravanabhavan, Vijaya Kumar, Loganathan, Chandrakumar and Balasubramanian were arrested during the investigations and were awarded life sentences in 1989 by the trial court. A Srilankan National, Maheswaran – the alleged mastermind of the blasts, and leader of the outfit Tamil Elam Army was arrested in 1998. All the accused persons were subsequently acquitted in May, 2000 by the Madras High Court citing insufficient evidence.