The legendary tiger military commander Balraj was suffering from a heart ailment and required urgent surgery in Singapore. Upon his return Balraj found himself “surrounded” by about 15 military officers of captain,major and Lt.Col rank at the Katunayake international airport. The brief encounter at Katunayake demonstrated vividly the admiration with which Balraj was held by some military officers. Balraj regarded as second in command to LTTE leader Veluppillai Prabhakaran in the military sphere was arguably the finest military commander the LTTE ever had. Mahendrarajah alias MahathayaGopalaswamy Mahendrarajah alias Mahathaya was now the LTTE military commander for the Wanni region.