He foiled a terror plan with seconds to spare

Promotion awaits heroic sailor:

Rasika Somarathna and Chitra Kaluarachchi, Hidogama Group Corr.

***

Date: February 10

Time: 11.30 a.m

Location: The Sunday fair in Anuradhapura packed to capacity with over 4,000 people

***

COLOMBO: Only 10 seconds are left for 1.5 k.g of lethal C4 explosives to explode, which would result in another human catastrophe of unimaginable proportions.

Ten seconds is all that is left when petty officer Narangoda Vidanelage Shantha Indunil Bandara (36) of the Navy grabs a pair of scissors from the nearby fruit stall and cuts the connecting wires of the deadly clock which stops ticking and with it another human tragedy perpetrated by a terror which has no regard for human lives.

This is not a high octane scene from a fast paced movie, but a real life drama enacted on that fateful Sunday morning in the sacred city of Anuradhapura.

Bandara, a native of Hidogama, Anuradhapura, is attached to the Silavatura Konedichchi Navy Camp.

While he was on home leave, he visited the Anuradhapura Sunday fair with his wife to purchase a school bag for his son.

There he sees a big black parcel placed next to a fruit stall and with many years of experience asks the stall owner whether the parcel is his and gets a negative answer.

He then evacuates the crowd from the vicinity, calls the bomb disposal unit and amidst loud protests from his wife inspects the parcel carefully, only to find the deadly cargo with the clock slowly ticking on its final lap. A detonator, a detonator cord, an electrical circuit and a timing device are all set to cause carnage.

He momentarily disregards his own life, family and every other thing because his one concern is to avert a major tragedy which would kill innocent people.

He knows that there is no time left for the arrival of the bomb disposal unit as his memory goes back to many sessions of training he underwent at the Naval Academy from 1996, the year he joined the Navy.

He grabs the pair of scissors which lies at the fruit stall and has to choose the correct wire next.

There is no hesitation as he cuts through the line and the suppressed sigh which follows next is clearly heard by all in the vicinity.

Luckily for the crowd a brave Naval officer was at hand to defuse the deadly cargo averting another human tragedy which would have claimed many unsuspecting innocent lives on that fateful day.

According to defence sources the bomb weighing 1.5 k.g of C4 high explosives was designed to cause maximum destruction. The Officer who was granted a personal reception with Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda yesterday, is set to receive a promotion and one of the highest gallantry awards in the Navy for his brave act.

A past pupil of Mahanelubewa Vidyalaya, Bandara said his two children were away attending the daham pasala on that day. He joined the Navy on November 5, 1996. He had participated in the Jayasikuru operation and served in Karainagar, Poonewa, Silavathura, Kayts and Trincomalee.

He was also instrumental in detecting 34 barrels of fuel meant for LTTE terrorists at Silavathura. Bandara's wife Kanthilatha Ekanayake (35) said her husband was a brave sailor who loved his country more than anything else.

He was full of praise for the present hierarchy of the Security Forces which he said was giving proper leadership in the war against terrorists. By defusing an LTTE bomb he had brought honour to his village and the entire Anuradhapura district.

A visibly moved Petty Officer Bandara narrating his experience to the media yesterday had an important message to all: "Please be vigilant because a deadly cargo might be anywhere in any shape at any time to snatch your and your loved ones precious lives."