Oct 28, Colombo: The Tamil Nadu police had seized explosives from the activists of Sri Lanka's defeated terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE), a tribunal conducting hearing on the proscription of the group in India has been told.

Two police inspectors of Tamil Nadu police had told the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal set up in Chennai to evaluate the ban on the LTTE that they had seized explosives from three LTTE activists.

The government counsel, appearing before the tribunal headed by the Justice V K Jain, has told the judge that there was need to continue the ban on LTTE as the defeated Tamil Tiger terrorist group is continued to be a threat to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India.

Meanwhile, the pro-LTTE Tamil Nadu political leader, the general secretary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), V. Goplasamy aka Vaiko has also appeared before the tribunal and opposed the continuation of the ban, according to a PTI report.

Vaiko had told the Indian media that there is no truth to the claim that LTTE is present in Tamil Nadu and LTTE did not exist in India.

The Indian government declared the LTTE a banned organization in 1994 after an LTTE suicide bomber assassinated former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.

The central government of India extended the ban on LTTE in July 2012 saying that it is necessary to declare the group as an 'unlawful association' since it continues to adopt a strong anti-India posture and pose a grave threat to the security of its citizens.

A pro-LTTE Canada-based Tamil making representations for LTTE has told the tribunal that LTTE is not fighting for a separate Tamil state in India and therefore it is unfair to ban LTTE in India.

The tribunal will hear the case again in Madurai and Chennai, officials have said.

Sri Lanka comprehensively defeated the terrorist group in the country three years ago in May 2009 and ended the 30-year long terrorism in the country, but the supporters of the terrorist group in Tamil Nadu state of India, certain European countries including the UK, France, and Canada have been actively involved in attempts to revive the group.