Colombo, Aug 9 - The possibility of the Tamil Tigers regrouping again has been 'thwarted completely' with the arrest of their new leader Kumaran Pathmanathan, Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said in remarks published Sunday.

According to Rajapaksa, Pathmanathan, better known as KP, was arrested in an Asian country and flown to Colombo on the night of Aug 6.

'The arrest of the LTTE mastermind KP has thwarted completely the possibilities of LTTE raising its ugly head again,' Rajapaksa was quoted as saying by the state-run Sunday Observer.

KP took over the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after the military crushed it militarily in May and killed its founder leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

According to Rajapaksa, the arrest of KP was a result of hard work done for nearly two months with the help of several countries. 'Every detail was carefully monitored to take this 'prize catch'.

'Pathmanathan was busy re-establishing the LTTE.