Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (nom de guerre: Colonel Karuna Amman; Tamil: விநாயகமூர்த்தி முரளிதரன், Vināyakamūrtti Muraḷitaraņ; born 22 June 1966) is a Sri Lankan politician and former militant.
[5] The move by Karuna to break away from the LTTE and renounce armed struggle was considered one of the major turning points of the Sri Lankan Civil War that would eventually bring about the end of the 25 year-long conflict.
It has been claimed that the former Deputy Minister Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana was instrumental in convincing Karuna to renounce militarism, who in turn joined the government.
[9] In 2006, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces launched a major campaign to evict the LTTE from the east of the country, with the assistance of the Karuna Faction.
Karuna has alleged that Prabhakaran intentionally dragged out peace talks with Sri Lanka to give rebels additional time to re-arm for further combat.
[13] Colonel Karuna was the LTTE head of the Eastern Province in 1990 when 600 unarmed police officers who surrendered to the group were subsequently massacred.
[14][15] RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has accused him of muzzling local journalists by forming death squads to silence those who oppose his views.
[30] A number of human rights groups, led by Amnesty International, urged the Metropolitan Police to investigate Karuna for war crimes including torture, hostage-taking and recruitment of child soldiers.
[34] Upon his return to Sri Lanka, Karuna entered democratic politics and joined the SLFP alongside 1750 other ex-LTTE members.
[35] On 19 June 2020, Karuna made a publicity stunt by making a revelation that he was even more cruel and merciless than the COVID-19 virus saying "I am more dangerous than the coronavirus.
"[36][37][38] His insensible comments drew widespread criticism from political fraternity calling him a barbarian and he was summoned to appear before the Criminal Investigation Department to record statements according to the order by acting DGP C. D.
Karuna called the incident a plot by the UNP, a prominent opposition party, to destroy the reputation of the TMVP and the Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance.