COLOMBO, Jan 6: The Sri Lankan troops had killed head of the LTTE’s Intelligence wing Shanmuganathan Ravishankar, popularly known as Charles, the government military and the LTTE said on Sunday.

Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nannayakkara said Charles had been shot dead following heavy artillery exchange between troops and the guerillas.

However, the pro-rebel website TamilNet said the rebel Intelligence chief had been killed in a ‘random Claymore attack carried out by Sri Lanka Army.

“Col Charles, who has been in charge of internal intelligence within the ranks of LTTE ground forces and led an external operations corps as well as a regular combat force that has been deployed in Mannar district, was killed together with three LTTE lieutenants in the ambush while they were riding in a van between Iluppaikkadavai and Pa’l’lamadu at 3:10pm,” the LTTE statement said.—Correspondent