[2] After a brief period of intense struggle, Maheshwaran and roughly 130 other TEA members had escaped to the Indian state of Tamil Nadu vowing to continue their fight.
[2] Bombs were placed in two suitcases loaded onto an airplane bound for Sri Lanka, with Maheshwaran intending the blast to strike an airport in Colombo.
The TEA's intention was to explode the bomb after the luggage was removed from the plane in Sri Lanke and dispatched to the cargo complex.
His accomplices included a film actor and flying club member Saravana Bhavan, a Sri Lankan named Thambiraja, an airport police constable Chandra Kumar, and two Air Lanka employees Loganathan and Vijayakumar.
[2] Though the police eventually tried to retrieve the luggage, a customs inspector had objected to handing over the baggage as he believed it contained contraband, most likely gold bars.
[2] Crime Branch CID police arrested 10 people in the case, while a Sri Lanka national Sree was absconding.