In the eelam War IV in Sri Lanka that ended with the death of LTTE chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran on May 19, India had outwardly adopted a hands off policy in the Sri Lanka conflict because of domestic political compulsions in Tamil Nadu.

New Delhi had maintained that it will not give any offensive weapons to Sri Lanka. But a new book, written by NDTV's defence editor Nitin Gokhale, who had extensively reported the war for the channel, reveals that India had actively if covertly helped the Sri Lankan military to scour out and destroy the LTTE.

For instance:

• India quietly transeferred five Mi-17 helicopters to Sri Lanka which were used in operations against the LTTE
• Indian Navy's Dornier aircraft fitted with powerful radars actively flew reconnaissance missions over the high seas to locate LTTE's "floating Warehouses," that carried large quantities of arms and ammunition
• Active collaboration between Sri Lankan and Indian Navy helped destroy 11 such LTTE ships and severely depleted LTTE's arms supply
• Colombo kept New Delhi informed every step  Three top Sri Lankan officials were in constant touch with India's National Security Adviser, the foreign secretary and the Defence Secretary