It is called "the Tiger" or "Selva de Corbeil".
Suspected of being the head of a criminal organization specializing in racketeering in the Sri Lankan community, this 36-year-old man had his request for release rejected by the Paris investigation chamber.
According to our information, an investigation, opened nearly a year ago for criminal acts of violence, extortion and criminal conspiracy, is about to end before the magistrates of the Criminal Court of Melun (Seine-et-Marne) .
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Punitive expeditions in the middle of Paris: these Tamil gangs that worry
In the glass box of the courtroom, this little man with a dark complexion does not look very cool.
Yet it is he who is accused, on the night of June 7 to 8, 2020, of having sliced the index finger of a merchant from Melun (Seine-et-Marne) to steal it.
That evening, the Tamil clan arrived on site in a Fiat 500, a Porsche Cayenne, a Volkswagen Tiguan and an Audi.
About fifteen big arms armed with machetes, sabers and sticks come out of the cars and force their way into this Proxy grocery store on the Place de l'Ermitage, run by a compatriot.
The gang hits two employees and a customer.
And "the Tiger" would then have sliced the index of the manager.
The criminals seize the sum of 5,000 euros and immediately flee.
Assessment of the expedition: four wounded, including one serious.
Arrested a few hours after the attack
The alleged gang leader was arrested a few hours later by investigators from the Versailles judicial police department, driving his Porsche in Corbeil-Essonnes (Essonne). He is in the company of an accomplice. The two men deny any involvement in the violence. "Le Tigre" explains that he had a dispute to settle with the manager of the grocery store. "He maintains that he was the last to arrive at the scene and would not have got out of his car," explains a source familiar with the matter.
Three victims, however, formally identify the two men. And the manager unhesitatingly points to the man who cut off his finger with a long black saber. The police place the entourage of these first two suspects under surveillance. Then follow the trail of cars used and telephone conversations, before conducting two arrests in the Tamil environment in August and October 2020.
In total, five men are indicted in this case.
All members of the Eelam boys clan, they deny the extortion and violence and try to clear their leader.
He fiercely denies belonging to this organization known to practice intra-community extortion.
Arrived in France for several years, this political refugee is himself the manager of a grocery store in Corbeil, which was set on fire on May 1, 2020 in reprisal.
This father, however, has a clean criminal record.
Telephone tapping leaves little doubt
"This case is not that simple," explains his advice.
Between perpetrators and victims, we have multiple versions.
"His lawyer recalls that many Tamil gangs scour the Paris region but that this file contains only few elements which would make his client" a member of a criminal organization, and even less a leader ".
"I recall that his genetic fingerprints were not found at the scene," she adds.
For the general prosecutor's office, the involvement of this man in criminal activities is however not in doubt.
"During telephone tapping, while behind bars, this man plans to have the victim murdered," says a magistrate.
The goal is to establish its power in a particularly closed community.
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Tamil gangs came to the fore in the media in 2010, but the immigration of Sri Lankan nationals to Europe dates back to the 1980s. It is believed to be around 60,000 in France. First very present in the 10th arrondissement of Paris and in Seine-Saint-Denis, this community has gradually spread to the east of the Paris region. These criminal groups only attack members of their community. Originally, they were formed to collect funds for their political cause, in order to collect a kind of revolutionary tax from individuals, but above all from traders. "Once the war ended in their country, these racketeers persisted in their criminal activities, driven by villainous motivations," said a magistrate specializing in the issue.
