Oct 07, Colombo: The breakaway rebel leader who formed a political party, Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), Vinayagamoorthi Muralidaran alias Karuna Amman was sworn in as a Member of Sri Lanka Parliament this morning by the Speaker with Marxist party MPs boycotting the house in protest of his appointment.

Karuna was appointed to the seat left vacant by JVP MP Wasantha Samarasinghe who resigned to contest the North Central Provincial elections.

MP Vinayagamoorthi Muralidaran who is representing the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) was arrested on November 2, 2007 in United Kingdom and served half of a nine-month term for possessing illegal documents to enter into UK and was released on July 03, 2008 to return to Sri Lanka as a free man.

It is also reported that Karuna was the top commander of the LTTE in Eastern Sri Lanka, and the reputed number two in the LTTE hierarchy until he left to form his own armed group in March 2004. Tamil Tiger forces under Karuna’s command were directly involved in some of the worst crimes of Sri Lanka’s ongoing terrorist activities, including torture, summary execution, and use of children as soldiers.