Even as the CBI awaits a formal response from Thailand about the detention of top LTTE financier Kumaran Padmanathan, conflicting reports have emerged over whether Padmanathan has actually been detained by the Bangkok Police.

The Thai Foreign Ministry, police as well as intelligence sources there are now dismissing earlier reports of his arrest.

“I have checked with related police bureaus — the Immigration Police, the Metropolitan Police and the Special Branch — and there has been no report of a Tiger rebel arrested in Bangkok,” National Police Spokesman, Lieutenant-General Ronnarong Youngyuen was quoted by agencies as saying.