He made every fighter of his guerrilla outfit wear a cyanide capsule to be swallowed in the event of getting captured, but Vellupillai Prabhakaran himself did not carry one when he was killed by the Sri Lankan troops in the last phase of the 30-year-old bloody civil war.

Sri Lankan troops did not find any cyanide capsule on the LTTE leader's body after he was killed during the final phase of the 30-year-old civil war, while they recovered cyanide pills from many of the LTTE cadres and leaders killed in the military campaign.

"Prabhakaran did not have a cyanide capsule on him. We did not find any such thing. Many other LTTE cadres had capsules with them, but not Prabhakaran," top defence sources said.

Interestingly, the 54-year-old Tamil Tigers leader carried his identity card and other items with him which were later recovered by the army, they said.

Prabhakaran was reputed to have been wearing a cyanide capsule around his neck and encouraged his fighters to do the same, saying it was better to take their own life than be captured alive by Sri Lankan soldiers.

The sources said Prabhakaran was in his uniform when he was shot dead by the troops and his dress was later removed to see whether there were any birth marks.