Paramilitary
In 1990 Devananda arrived in Colombo. A meeting was arranged by Sri Lankan intelligence between Devananda and Deputy Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne. Devananda offered to place the EPDP under Sri Lankan government control in return for support and protection from the Tamil Tigers. The government accepted - the EPDP had transformed itself into a paramilitary organisation. Devananda was attacked for betraying the Tamil people and collaborating with the enemy.
EPDP cadres from all over Sri Lanka and India converged on Colombo. The government gave the EPDP vast financial assistance. The EPDP, with the support of the government, took control of the islands off Jaffna peninsula after the Tigers withdrew. The EPDP used the islands as a base to transport goods, particularly dried fish, between India and Sri Lanka. It also imposed taxes. Tamils living in Colombo were extorted money.
On 1 January 1993, Tharmalingam Selvakumar, a former EPDP sympathiser, was abducted from the Premil Sports Club at Kotahena, Colombo. Selvakumar has alleged that he was taken in a van driven by Devananda to Devananda's house at 121 Park Road, Colombo 5. He was detained along with other prisoners in cells at the back of Devananda's house. Selvakumar was tortured and the EPDP tried to extort money from his family.
All of this resulted in Devananda making a fortune.
The EPDP claims to have given up the armed struggle and joined the democratic process in Sri Lanka. However, the EPDP's paramilitary activities are well documented. The paramilitary wing has been accused of helping the Sri Lankan Navy commit massacres in places like Allaipiddy
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