Mr Komakan at a protest earlier this year, calling for the release of political prisoners.

A former member of the Jaffna municipality council has been released this afternoon after being detained at Colombo airport earlier in the day as he was due to leave for a temple pilgrimage in India.


He has been ordered not to leave the country however. Mr Komathan is understood to be seeking legal advice regarding removal of the travel ban.

M Komakan became the council member after winning the 2009 municipality election.

However he was then arrested on August 23rd, 2010 by the Terrorism Investigation Division, accused of being associated with the LTTE, along side Ganesharatnam Shanthathevan. The pair were released earlier this year on February 29th.

During his detention, Mr Komakan reportedly made a statement of admission of guilt. Two cases were filed against him in Vavuniya and Colombo magistrate court.

In June 2015, Mr Komakan was cleared of the charges brought against him by the Vavuniya magistrate court on the grounds that his admission of guilt was made under duress. However, the case against him in Colombo was not dropped until February this year.

The family of Mr Komakan have been ordered to bring his documents to Colombo.

Mr Komakan's arrest is the latest in a series of arrests of formerly released political prisoners and LTTE cadres by TID officers this year.

* This article has been edited. It previously incorrectly stated that Mr Komathan was a former LTTE cadre.