JVP fear psychosis - Part IV:

Murders of a counter-subversive Police officer, businessman

Population held to ransom with hartals, nightly blackouts:

The JVP’s no. 1 killer ‘Gamini’ armed to the teeth with four others walked in to Police Inspector Rajapakse’s home in Maharagama on September 1988. They not only shot Rajapakse at pointblank range but also opened fire at another man who had been with Rajapakse at that time. Their bodies were riddled with bullets. More cold-blooded killings

Geoff Wijesinghe

It was a lovely September evening in 1988 and the golden rays of the setting sun bathed the rich green countryside.

The paddy stalks in the rice fields were waving to and fro, like dancers keeping time to a beautiful melody.

A farmer was winding his way, leading cattle along a path strewn with thorn and bracken. The patients warded at the Cancer Hospital in Maharagama were at dinner and the countryside surrounding the bustling industrial town was very quiet and peaceful.

The five men, armed to the teeth, stealthily walked towards a house located close to the hospital.

One of them was armed with a revolver, another with a single-shot Galkatas, two with knives and ‘Gamini’, the JVP’s No. 1 serial killer, with a Sterling submachine gun.

This time, Gamini’s victim was to be Police Inspector Rajapakse of the Counter Subversive Unit of the Police, whose head Deputy Inspector General Terrance Perera had been the psychopath’s first victim.

The sun had by now gone down in the West and dusk had given way to night, when ‘Jayantha’, who was leading the DJV hit squad, entered the Police officer’s home, followed by ‘Gamini’ and the others.

Sitting room

Inspector Rajapakse, who had become quite a thorn in the flesh for the JVP, had just returned home from work and was sipping a cup of tea, when ‘Jayantha’, his revolver cocked at the ready, strode into the sitting room and pointed the gun at the Police officer.

He told Inspector Rajapakse, “We don’t want to harm you. Just hand over your revolver.”

The good Policeman was made of sterner stuff. Shaken, but unbowed, he tried to make conversation with the killers, desperately playing for time to wrest the initiative from the terrorists. By now, ‘Gamini’ was standing in front of him with his machine gun pointing ominously at the police officer.

Inspector Rajapakse replied, “I am supporting you all. I am a friend of ‘Shantha Bandara.’ “You can ask me about him,” and as he finished saying this, he lunged forward and tried to grab Gamini’s weapon. The two were grappling together, when one of the terrorists stabbed Rajapakse in the back.

The Policeman then ran outside, with the subversives in hot pursuit. ‘Gamini’ shot him at pointblank range with a hail of bullets from his machine gun. The man who committed as many as 43 murders in a short span of little over two years swivelled round and opened fire with his automatic weapon at another man who had been with Rajapakse in the sitting room.

Deep shock

Both the Police officer and his friend fell to the ground almost simultaneously. Both were dead, their bodies riddled with machine gun bullets. ‘Gamini’ was a cold-blooded killer and every shot had found its mark, unlike the leader of the hit squad ‘Jayantha’ who had fired the first shot at Inspector Rajapakse with his revolver, but it had been way off the mark. His hand bearing the gun had been shaky.

An old woman who had been in the sitting room at the time of the slaying was still in a state of deep shock when Police arrived on the scene.

The killing of Inspector Rajapakse of the CSU had been ordered by the Politburo of the JVP.

It was now February 1989 and the JVP’s Military Wing the DJV decided to murder Sri Lankan businessmen of Indian origin as a mark of protest against the presence of Indian peacekeepers in the island’s Northern and Eastern Provinces.

The JVP leadership had decided not only to kill businessmen of Indian origin, but also to prevent consumers from having basic necessities such as Bombay onions, inexpensive drugs and medicines, textiles such as sarees and several other commodities imported from India.

It decided to use the IPKF presence to terrorize and hold the South to ransom and cause great hardship to the entire population. It was another means to achieve its end - paralysing the country economically and overthrowing the democratically elected Government. Schools were closed at the whims and fancies of the JVP, who boldly entered the institutions and addressed the students, hartal were declared. Those violating the hartal were shot dead.

Nightly blackouts

Often, nightly blackouts were declared, and the population had to spend many a night by candlelight. Finally, Police and Security Forces personnel were ordered to give up arms. Those who refused had members of their families kidnapped. This was the shocking and pathetic state the country was brought to by this band of brigands styling themselves as insurgents, who robbed, pillaged and terrorized the people.

They had succeeded to such an extent in this evil pursuit that there was hardly any foreign exchange left even to purchase essential consumer goods, when President R. Premadasa took over the reins of Government. Today, for many of us, the economic recovery since then is nothing else but a heaven sent miracle.

It was February 2, 1989 when ‘Gamini’ was given the order to eliminate P.B. Umbichy, the leading Pettah businessman, who had his office at Fourth Cross Street, Pettah, and his brother. ‘Gamini’ was taken to the place by a fellow terrorist ‘Bandu.’ They climbed the stairs of the multi-storeyed P.B. Umbichy building and were shown the glass cubicle in which the multi-millionaire was seated at his desk.

The JVP serial killer was also taken to Grandpass and shown the sugar stores of P.B. Umbichy & Co. Ltd. This was where P.B. Umbichy’s younger brother was generally based.

He was asked to kill the brother at the stores. But, having taken a close look at the location, ‘Gamini’ said it would not be possible to murder the younger Umbichy at the Grandpass sugar stores, since the security there was too tight.

He reported about that on same evening to ‘Ananda’, the Politburo member who served as the liaison between the JVP leadership and the DJV, and later to ‘Samare’, the Colombo District Secretary of the JVP.

Independence Day

‘Gamini’ was told that P.B. Umbichy’s brother often called in the mornings at the head office and if there was someone similar in appearance to the fat, stout and bald-headed multi-millionaire, it would be his brother. He was to bump off both.

But, the terrorists came across a big hitch. They could not lay their hands on a handgun for the murders.

'Samare' also said that February 4 (Independence Day) cannot be the day for the murders as the JVP had made plans to sabotage the celebrations and had declared a hartal.

Finally, on the evening of February 5, 'Samare' met 'Gamini' at a video parlour at the Narahenpita junction and were handed a .9 mm pistol and 15 rounds of ammunition and ordered that the Umbichy brothers be eliminated the following morning.

'Gamini' then went along to Thotalanga where he met 'Vijitha' and 'Karu.'

'Vijitha' was given an empty pistol and 'Karu' a knife. They were told to hold at gunpoint the eight clerks who worked on the same floor as the Umbichys.

Around 10.30 a.m. on February 6, 1989, 'Gamini' and the two other hit squad terrorists nonchalantly climbed the stairs of the multi-storeyed Umbichy building on Fourth Cross Street, the hub of Sri Lanka's commercial centre.

'Vijitha' pointed the empty pistol at the eight astounded workers, while 'Karu' wielded his knife at them.

Wealthy trader

'Gamini', his nerves as cold as steel, casually walked into the glass cubicle where he found P.B. Umbichy seated at his desk on the right. He pumped two shots into the body of the wealthy trader, and then fired at point blank range at his brother.

To make sure both were dead, the JVP slayer placed his pistol against the forehead of one of the brothers who had slumped from his chair and pumped two more shots into the body of the other.

The Umbichy brothers were stone cold dead.

The DJV hit squad unhurriedly left the building. 'Gamini' turned right and walked up to the Bo Tree Junction, where he took a three wheel taxi to near Olympia Cinema and then walked along Maradana to his safe house at Punchi Borella. The other two also made a successful getaway without any fuss.