JVP fear psychosis - Part VIII:

JVP attack on Wadduwa Army Camp foiled

Geoff WIJESINGHE

The Indo-Lanka accord and the arrival of the IPKF in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka served as an excuse for JVP to set up a dictatorship through the wave of wanton violence it unleashed. They planned anti-accord demonstrations.

On the day before the signing of the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord in 1987, two DJV hit men arrived on a motorcycle and met ‘Gamini’ - the JVP serial killer who killed DIG Terrance Perera, University Don Prof Stanley Wijesundara, actor-politician Vijaya Kumaratunga, Municipal Councillor Jayantha Mallimarachchi and UNP General Secretary Nandalal Fernando among his 43 victims.

This was at a garage in Horana. The two subversives arrived on a Honda 125. They said they would be returning to the garage about 6.00 p.m. on the same day.

When ‘S’ arrived on the same motorcycle, ‘Gamini’ hopped onto the pillion and they rode to a safe house at Hokandara, about 18 miles East of Colombo, well-known for its rock quarries.

The house was a large one and ‘Gamini’ came to know that it belonged to a big businessman who was not in at the time. However, his son, a 16-year-old schoolboy, had joined the DJV and was now providing shelter for subversives.

The boy, ‘A’, had deceived his mother who was present, saying that the young men who would spend a few days with him from time to time were mere friends and the doting mother believed her lying son.

‘Gamini’ told Police that when he arrived at the Hokandara safe house, there were 10 other DJV cadres already present. Two hours later, about 9.00 p.m., two others arrived in a 13 Sri Toyota Corolla.

“We hid the T-56 guns and eight to ten other rifles under a bed in a room, for fear ‘A’s parents would see them.”

He added that there were six grenades in the arsenal.

That night, the DJV gang slept at the safe house at Hokandara - some inside, others in the car and a Hiace van.

The next morning, two subversives arrived in a Honda motorcycle and gave the DJV men the news that the Indo-Lanka agreement was to be signed that day.

One of the cadres, who was evidently a senior ranker, took ‘Gamini’ and the others to a room and delivered a long lecture on the evils of the accord, and ordered them to take to the streets and organise mass demonstrations and lead mob violence.

This man was around 45 years old, about five feet and five inches tall, hair streaked with silver strands combed back and was wearing a pair of spectacles, according to ‘Gamini.’

He said that they should operate in groups of five and each group should have two guns. They were told to speak to people on the roads and incite violence. The senior cadre then left.

About 9.00 a.m. that morning, ‘Gamini’s group left the Hokandara safe house on their mission of murder and incitement of mob violence.

‘Gamini’ and ‘A’ who was associated with the former in most of his principal slayings, were armed with two T-56 rifles and two magazines each containing 20 bullets.

They travelled in a van to Pannipitiya along the Hokandara Road and from there they proceeded to Maharagama, stopping often and exhorting the public to join the in marching to Colombo to demonstrate against the Indo-Lanka accord.

Gamini recounted, “We finally stopped near a temple on the Maharagama-Boralesgamuwa Road. There was a crowd of people gathered at the spot. I remained outside, while the others in my gang of hit men went inside the temple.”

“I then saw a green coloured Police jeep approaching us. ‘A’ and I were carrying our T-56 rifles. They were loaded.”

Meanwhile, the mob had placed stones across the road to block the Police jeep. The crowd, on seeing the approaching Police jeep, ran into the temple.

“I hid near the temple gate. My T-56 was cocked and ready to fire. My finger was on the trigger. ‘A’ was on the road now. As the Police jeep came close to the temple, ‘A’ pointed his gun at the vehicle and shouted ‘halt.’

“The jeep, however, continued to move forward. Then ‘A’ fired at the police jeep. Those inside it ducked their heads. I also opened fire at the jeep as its driver accelerated and took the vehicle over the stone barricade.”

There were five uniformed policemen in the vehicle, the JVP serial killer has told Police.

He later learnt from people on the road that the occupants of the Police jeep were wounded in the exchange of fire.

‘Gamini’ said he pumped ten bullets into the jeep with his T-56, the key weapon being used by the JVP’s serial killer to create the fear psychosis, which led to untold terror and hardship among the people.

The Indo-Lanka accord and the arrival of the IPKF in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka served as an excuse for the JVP and its military wing DJV to try to capture power and set up a dictatorship in Sri Lanka through the wave of wanton violence it unleashed.

A second jeep carrying about eight uniformed Policemen arrived. ‘Gamini’ and ‘A’ opened fire at the vehicle, which stopped, turned and went back in the direction from which it had come.

‘Gamini’ and ‘A’ packed the two guns into a gunny bag which they obtained and trekked through the paddy fields and got onto the Bokumbura Road. ‘A’ then entered a house on this road and the weapons were hidden there.

“I discovered this was the safe house where ‘A’ lived. ‘A’ and another subversive left in a motorcycle, while I remained there. That night around 8.00 p.m., ‘A’ returned and asked me to go to the Erewwala junction at Pannipitiya with the gunny bag containing the two automatic weapons.”

“As instructed, I reached the location, about one mile away from the safe house in the company of “Asoka.”

There was a Delica van parked by the road, and five youths were inside it. One of them had a shotgun.

“We got into the van which was driven to a Pirivena near Dharmapala College. ‘Gamini’ and others met ‘S’ there. I was asked to get down from the van and go to the rear of the Pirivena, taking the T-56 with me.”

There was a large crowd at the Pirivena. There was a banner strung across the road, protesting against the Indo-Lanka accord.

They stayed in the Pirivena until the next morning, when around 8.00 a.m. a Police Tata truck arrived with a load of Policemen. The crowd inside asked the armed Policemen, numbering about 20, not to enter the Pirivena premises.

About ten Buddhist monks then went up and spoke to the Policemen. The Police then asked the crowd to disperse. They were willing to take those in the crowd to their homes.

“The Policemen remained on the road after making this announcement. ‘A’ and I were asked by ‘S’ to go to the rear of the Pirivena with the weapons, ‘Gamini’ said.

The crowd meanwhile, dispersed.

To be continued