Chronology of LTTE terror- Part 60

From the Daily News Archives

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When the euphoria of victory dies down, and together with it the media hype ceases, when the guns do not rattle and boom anymore and the sky, the land and the sea become calm and serene, when tranquillity reigns through it is natural to live in the present moment and forget the past. But one cannot live in the present without a past. Nor can one envision the future discarding the experience of the preceding events. Hence the Daily News is serialising the Chronicle of LTTE Terror taken from our own archives which would remind our readers how it all began. An awareness of the chronology of terror would help us prevent the recurrence of such terror and frustrate any attempts by misguided elements to repeat history to suit their evil designs. It was not simple terror. Nor was terror sporadic. It was all pre-planned, pre-determined, well-calculated terror. The victims were innocent people. Though it is too many innumerate we would like to recall the major episodes in the Chronology of Terror.

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Thursday July 25, 1996:

70 killed, 300 injured, as bomb explodes on Aluthgama train

Mt. Lavinia group correspondent

Two powerful bombs ripped through the Aluthgama bound evening train at the Dehiwala railway station around 6.10 p.m. yesterday, killing at least 70 people and injuring 300.

Police officers on site said the carnage occurred when two parcel bombs placed in the second and seventh compartments exploded. The train was packed to capacity with office workers leaving for their homes.

“Investigations are still under way, but we presume this to be the work of the LTTE,” a senior police officer said. This was the worst act of terrorism targeting civilians after the January 31 Central Bank bomb blast which claimed 95 lives.

He said the perpetrators of the crime, had actually placed three parcels of explosives in the train, but an alert railway protection force member had spotted a suspicious-looking parcel and removed it to the platform. This did not explode while the other two exploded simultaneously.

Apart from the two carriages which turned into a complete wreckage, some other compartments of the train and the station were damaged. The sound of the explosion has been heard more than five kilometres away.

Two Tamil suspects have been taken into custody in connection with the massive explosion, Dehiwala OIC T.M.P. Tennakoon said.

“One suspect was apprehended at the station itself, while the other suspect was apprehended by the public when he boarded a Colombo bound bus and requested a ticket for Moratuwa in broken Sinhalese. The passengers handed him over to the Wellawatte police, where he is being interrogated,” he said.

DIG Indra de Silva, SP Asoka Tennakoon and ASP U.A. Dharmadasa are leading a special team of police sleuths probing the incident.

The blast site was a picture of total destruction with rubble, smoke, blood and dismembered bodies strewn everywhere.

Bodies of victims are at the Kalubowila and Colombo hospitals. The injured were rushed to the Colombo Accident Ward by ambulance. Hospital sources said a number of passengers who had received serious injuries were operated on immediately.

Industrial Development Minister C.V. Gooneratne and Western Province Transport Minister Prasanna Ranatunga rushed to the site soon after the explosion to oversee rescue operations.

ID cards, wallets and documents of nearly 400 passengers have been taken to the Dehiwala police station.

The blast came as security forces in Colombo went on red alert for possible LTTE attacks to coincide with the ‘Black July’ anniversary. Minister C.V. Gooneratne, who lives just 50 metres away from the blast site, told the Daily News that he rushed to the scene immediately and later visited both Kalubowila and Colombo hospitals where the injured are warded. “The emergency services and the public responded very well and carried out rescue work efficiently. At the hospitals too, the medical staff and workers immediately attended to the injured,” he said, adding that he requested the hospital authorities to display the names of the wounded for the benefit of relatives.

He complimented the people for their restraint, saying the LTTE intended to provoke a backlash by carrying out the attack.

“Security has been intensified and I also arranged with the CEB to stop the power cuts in Dehiwala,” the Minister said.

Friday July 26, 1990:

Commuters’ haste prevented action:

Train blast death toll now 55, injured 344

By Sarath MALALASEKERA and Rodney MARTINESZ

WEDNESDAY’s carnage at the Dehiwela railway station could have been averted if Police and the Army were called to carry out a full inspection of the ill-fated train after the first bomb was detected, investigators said yesterday.

However, once the first bomb detected by a solider-passenger in an unaccompanied leather bag found in his compartment adjoining the engine, was removed the commuters had felt it was safe to continue with the journey.

“The impatience of some boisterous commuters to proceed immediately after the detection of the first bomb prompted the station master to give the ‘all clear’ signal after consulting the Train Control,” an investigator explained. “Had they waited for a while until Police and the Army arrived at the scene for a full checkup, the other two bombs which exploded also would have been detected in time and the valuable lives saved” Senior SP Padmasiri Liyanage said. The death toll from the bomb blast stood at 55 at noon yesterday. A total of 344 injured are under treatment at National hospital, Kalubowila hospital and Sri Jayawardhanapura Kotte hospital, according to Health Department sources.

Some critically injured victims are undergoing treatment in Intensive Care Units of the hospitals where doctors, nurses and other staff are putting up a valiant round-the-clock fight to save their lives.

Many members of the concerned public whom these reporters met were full of praise for the devotion to duty demonstrated by hospital workers.

Meanwhile, seven suspects including a young couple were taken into custody in connection with he bomb blast on Wednesday night. The ill-fated Aluthgama-bound train had left Maradana at 5.52 pm and arrived at the Dehiwela railway station at 6.08 pm. According to the railway authorities over 3000 passengers had been on the train at the time of the bomb blast.

Senior SP Liyanage yesterday said that Police rushed to the scene of the incident immediately after receiving the information about the bomb that was detected at the Dehiwela Railway station. By the time Police arrived, the tragedy had already occurred. Station Master K.P.S.D. Jayasekera said that when one bomb which was inside a compartment was removed by the soldier the commuters thought that the train was safe and boarded it. The commuters insisted that the train be released and gave him the impression that they were not in a mood to tolerate any further delay of the train. Therefore, gave the green light after consulting the Control Room. The explosions occurred just as the train moved ahead, he added.

“The soldier, Travor Harris Burke who was responsible for removing the first bomb which was detected and defused earlier said that he saw a well dressed person carrying the leather bag and later leaving it on the rack of the compartment. “This man got into the train at Kollupitiya railway station and got off at Wellawatte railway station”. The soldier said that this person acted suspiciously while travelling on the train. When the train stopped at the railway station the soldier removed the leather bag and informed the station authorities.

The Railway Station authorities immediately informed the emergency and the Dehiwela Police. But before Police arrived at the scene the train had left the platform.

“If the train did not move, this disaster would not have occurred” the SSP Liyanage said. “The blasts occurred just as we reached the railway station,” he added.

DIG Indra de Silva is directing investigations conducted by Senior SP Padmasiri Liyanage with SP Asoka Tennekoon and Chief Inspector T.M.P. Tennekoon, OIC Dehiwela Police.

Meanwhile, the Rehabilitation Authority will pay special compensation to the families of the victims who died in the Dehiwala bomb explosion on Wednesday. This follows a directive by Shipping, Ports. Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Acting Minister Mahinda Wijesekara that immediate relief be granted to all those affected by the bomb explosion.

A Ministry release said according to this directive a payment of upto Rs. 150,000 will be made against the death of a public servant or corporation employee while a payment of upto Rs. 50,000 will be made against the death of an ordinary civilian.

As an immediate measure Rs. 10,000 will be paid as a death donation and Rs. 2,000 as funeral expenses against each victim. The payment will be made to the next-of-kin.

A Railway Department communique yesterday said: “Train No. 764 left Fort at 17.29 on Wednesday 24 July 1996 and arrived at Dehiwela at 17.52. According to information available to the Railway, an unattended package was found on the rack of a compartment and was removed at Dehiwela Station for examination by the Bomb Squad. The passengers who were in this compartment had detrained and got into other compartments after which the train had left the Dehiwela Station. As the train was moving out of the Station explosions in two of the carriages of the train had taken place.

Further inquiries are being conducted both by the Security Service and Railway Authorities.

In accordance with Government practice, the Sri Lanka Railway is making arrangements to pay compensation to families of the deceased persons as well as to assist the injured who are hospitalised. The Sri Lanka Railway expresses its deepest sympathies to members of the bereaved families.

Persons requiring assistance may contact Mr. G.P. Wickrematilleke, Commercial Superintendent (Tel: 320109) or Mr. J.L.S. Jayalath, Administrative Officer (Tel: 329845)

Bomb in train kills 70 at Dehiwala

Among the dead Lake House artist Sudeepa Purnajith:

Wijitha NAKKAWITA

It was the evening of July 24 when Sudeepa Purnajith, Lake House artist left Lake House to catch the train to go to Panadura. He was a handsome young man who had just turned thirty and was betrothed to lovely young girl working at a private sector company at Mt. Lavinia. Purnajith was not only an artist who illustrated newspaper articles but was better known as an illustrator of postal stamps. For his young age he had designed more postage stamps than most others of his time.

There were two trains on the coastal railway line he could take-one that was running express to Panadura his destination from Colombo Fort Railway station and the next train a slow one after the first left. He decided to take the second train as it would stop at Mt. Lavinia where his fiancee would be waiting to accompany him to Panadura.

The second train left Colombo and proceeded to Dehiwala and before it took off a soldier who was off duty travelling in the carriage next to the engine detected a suspicious bag left on a rack in one of the compartments and advised the railway guard and the driver to stop the train. There was no owner of the bag and it was taken out and the bomb disposal squad was called to defuse a bomb that was in the bag. However the passengers were eager that the train should not delay any further believing it was safe and train took off but it did not go very far when another bomb placed in another carriage went off. Seventy people including our colleague Purnajith died instantly while over 300 were injured some of them seriously.

Among the lives lost he left an unforgettable impression of sadness among his family, his fiancee and those of us who had known him as a friend.

The LTTE was not concerned at all with humanity but always with the ruthless murder of innocents. Sudeepa Purnajith was childlike and a deeply sensitive person who never hurt anyone even by a word but the child in him never believed that anyone would harm him.

A few weeks before that about 200 LTTE terrorists had raided a village Ralmaduwa near Eluvankulama in Puttalam killed 14 civilians including women and children. After that they had set fire to the houses in the village mostly kadjan huts and fled the area. Though the authorities at the time were suggesting amendments to the Constitution to devolve power to the north and east the LTTE were not interested in any settlement but were going on their killing sprees.

Friday, July 05, 1996:

Nimal Siripala de Silva injured when suicide cyclist attacks convoy

Two officers, 4 soldiers, 3 policemen, 11 others killed:

Housing, Construction and Public Utilities Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva narrowly escaped death in Jaffna yesterday when a woman suicide bomber crashed into a convoy in which the Minister was travelling.

Official reports said Brigadier Ananda Hamangoda and 20 others (4 soldiers, three policemen and eleven civilians) were killed in the impact at Stanley Road, Jaffna at around 12.45 p.m. The dead civilians include the Chairman, Cement Corporation Mr. R. Godamuna and BMC official Mr. A.A. Dissanayake.

Captain C.D.P.K. Colombage of the Sri Lanka Military Police, Mr. Carlyle Dias, retired SSP attached to NPRRA and Police Constable Banda the Minister’s security officer were also killed in the attack.

Others who died in the incident are Corporal Banda of the Sri Lanka Military Police, Private Seneviratne, Private Pusila Kumara, Private Gunawardena and an unidentified police constable. Over fifty others were also injured in the incident which occurred shortly after Minister de Silva was leaving the Stanley Road venue where he declared opened the Building Materials Corporation outlet as part of the reconstruction now in progress in the North. Reports said that the Minister who suffered injuries to his forehead was airlifted to the Palaly Base Hospital for emergency treatment. He has since been transferred to Colombo. The Minister, who is the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Northern Rehabilitation, was on one of his visits to the North to supervise the on-going projects.

Over the SLBC yesterday, the Minister was quoted as saying at a military complex that the attack would not deter him from visiting Jaffna again. The blast went off as he got into his car, he said.

Wednesday, June 12, 1996:

Tigers ravage village, killing women, children

Over 200 LTTE terrorists stormed a Sinhala village, 16 miles off Puttalam on Monday midnight and hacked to death 14 civilians including women and children. They also set ablaze their houses located at Ilavankulam, a Sinhala village in Ralmadu, close to the Wilpattu Sanctuary.

According to later reports from our Puttalam central group correspondent, the dead have been identified as ‘Karate’ Perera (55), Thushara Rohana, Malkanthi (26), Benedict Perera (45), Josephine (48), Sandhya (15), Dhilani (13), Renuka Damayanthi, Nilanthi, Chathuranga, Lalith Chaminda, Lalith Manjula, Tripsy Renuka, Mary Theresa, Winoris Silva.

Yesterday Deputy Minister of Fisheries Milroy Fernando, Provincial Councillor and SLFP Organiser M.H.M. Navavi, Provincial Councillor T.M. Ismail and Puttalam District MP D.M. Dassanayake visited the scene and directed all assistance to the bereaved families. The security forces are combing the area to hunt down the attackers.

Puttalam police is investigating.

According to reports the day before the incident, Tigers had abducted three persons from this same village (a father and his two sons), of whom one son had been released after he had been badly assaulted by the Tigers. Police are investigating this incident following a complaint by the son.

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Monday: Terrorists attack World Trade Centre

Yesterday: Bombs ripped Central Bank

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