JVP fear psychosis - Part III:

Wave of unsurpassed terror

Raided two banks at Katubedda:

Their main aim was to create fear in the minds of the people. The cold-blooded murders continued unabated with the killing of prominent members of society. They robbed cash and jewellery from two banks in Katubedda in broad daylight while the people watched helplessly

Geoff Wijesinghe

Despite the orgy of violence, including the attack on the maximum security Magazine Prison at Welikada, the Presidential election of 1989 was held successfully.

In the run up to the polls, the insurgents unleashed a wave of unsurpassed terror.

They singled out men of standing in society to continue to create fear in the minds of the people.

Typical of this strategy to try to put the Fear of Moses into people was the cold-blooded murder of Tilak Karunaratne, President of the UNP branch and the Gramodaya Mandalaya in Bentota. Mr. Karunaratne was a very active social worker and a senior member of the Lions Club.

He was at his Bentota home, alone but for a manservant, when a DJV hit squad broke in and stabbed him to death.

The poster left beside his body by the killers listed the following as the reasons for the ‘punishment’ meted out to him - being a diehard UNPer, entertaining ministers and other important persons at his home, defying orders by the JVP leader of the Southern province, in that he did not hang white flags on days the JVP declared hartals and defying orders to switch off his lights and to observe JVP curfews.

Police are still in search of the alleged leader of the DJV hit squad that murdered Mr. Karunaratne.

On January 15, 1989, the JVP’s No: 1 serial killer ‘Gamini’ called over at a video centre in Rajagiriya, where he met ‘A’, the JVP Politburo member who served as the liaison between the political and military wings of the organisation.

‘A’ handed him a note from the Colombo district leader ‘S’ instructing him to meet him at 6.00 pm on the same day at the video centre, which served as a meeting place for the terrorists. ‘S’ and ‘Pat’, the DJV district leader for Colombo arrived on motorcycles.

‘S’ introduced him to ‘Pat’ and instructed ‘Gamini’ to meet ‘Pat’ at ‘R’s tailoring shop at Maliban Junction in Ratmalana on the next morning.

The two then rode off.

General election

‘Gamini’ went to ‘K’s house at Punchi Borella, where he later went to after slaying Jayantha Mallimarachchi on the day of the General election.

‘Gamini’ was at the Ratmalana tailoring shop, which was now the centre of operations of the Colombo district leader, when ‘Pat’ turned up on a motorcycle and asked ‘Gamini’ to hop onto the pillion.

They stopped at Vijitha Cinema on Galle Road, Ratmalana, where ‘Pat’ told ‘Gamini’ they were going to raid the Bank of Ceylon and People’s Bank branches at Katubedda. ‘Pat’ told ‘Gamini’ that both banks were on the right side of Galle Road.

‘Pat’ then dropped Gamini and asked him to come to a spot near the Bellanwila Temple at 6.00 pm on the same day and that he would be given instructions by another subversive ‘Cam.’

‘Gamini’ kept the appointment was and met by ‘Cam’ and ‘As’ who had participated in several crimes with ‘Gamini.’ A few minutes later, another terrorist as tall as the gangling ‘As’ arrived.

‘Cam’ next introduced the others to a 21-old-lad, who took them by bus to Boralesgamuwa.

They next boarded a bus bound for Piliyandala and got down somewhere on the way. The youth took the other four JVP cadres along a gravel road and then stepped into a house.

They entered a side room and were asked to stay inside it.

‘Gamini’ told Police there was a family living in the house. The youth brought two loaves of bread and a tin of salmon for the hit squad’s dinner. They made a sambol of the tinned salmon and partook of the meal. About 7.30 pm, ‘Pr’ and ‘Pat’ arrived in a van.

Jewellery and the cash

‘Pat’ instructed the hit squad to raid the Bank of Ceylon branch at Katubedda on the following day and remove all the gold jewellery and the cash.

‘Pat’ gave ‘Gamini’ and the others a detailed briefing of the layout inside the bank. ‘Gamini’ and ‘Pr’ were told to disarm the security guards inside the bank, while two others were asked to disarm the two security guards at the front entrance. They were told to take the cash at the bank’s counter and the jewellery inside the safe.

‘Pat’ then instructed the five-man hit squad to meet him near Salgado Hotel at Rawatawatte. ‘Pat’ left behind a submachine gun and a magazine full of bullets, which the DJV hit squad was to bring with them to Rawatawatte.

‘Gamini’ and the others met ‘Pat’ on schedule the next morning. The Colombo district military wing leader of the JVP was clad in shirt and trousers and wore shoes.

‘Pat’ then told the group that a cricket match was being played at grounds nearby. They had watched the cricket match for about one and a half hours, when ‘Pat’ who was away returned and wanted them to go to the bus halt near German Technical College.

The hit squad carried out ‘Pat’s directions.

There, he arrived in a white Hi Ace van about 15 minutes later and parked on the pavement. There were two others in the vehicle. The one wearing sunglasses sat at the wheel.

They were all clad in shirt and long trousers.

‘Pat’ got down from the front seat and asked ‘Gamini’ to go to the van.

A terrorist in the van handed ‘Gamini’ a brown paper parcel. Inside it were a .38 revolver and six cartridges. ‘Gamini’ tucked the gun inside his waist. ‘Pat’ took the submachine gun.

The hit squad stood in front of Bank of Ceylon and People’s Bank branches at Katubedda.

Both banks were to be raided simultaneously by separate hit squads. Armed with his revolver and accompanied by two other terrorists, ‘Gamini’ stepped into the bank.

Security guards

He found two security guards armed with rifles. ‘Gamini’ pointed his revolver at them and ordered them to drop their weapons.

One of the guards pointed his gun at ‘Gamini.’ ‘Pr’ then pounced on the security guard and began grappling with him.

Then ‘Pat’ entered the bank and pointed a T-56 rifle at the two security guards and said in a cold terse voice, “Drop your weapons or I’ll blow your brains out.”

The two security guards dropped their guns and ran inside a room.

‘Gamini’ told Police that he saw ‘As’ then taking the cash from the counter and putting it into a bag. He also saw the man who earlier sat at the wheel of the white HI Ace van standing at the bank’s entrance, nestling a submachine gun.

There was a crowd of curious spectators helplessly watching the daring daylight robbery. They were being held at gunpoint.

‘Gamini’ was at the entrance now. The terrorist carrying the SMG told ‘Gamini’ the van’s switch keys had been misplaced.

Bank robbers

‘Gamini’ took charge of the submachine gun and asked the driver to look for the keys. He pointed the gun at the people.

The other bank bandits came to the entrance carrying their bags of loot.

‘Gamini’ found the hit squad had successfully raided the Bank of Ceylon and came out, one of the raiders carrying a T-56 rifle, who was told the van’s keys were lost. This terrorist, on hearing the bad news, rushed onto the Galle Road and stopped at gunpoint a Hi Ace van travelling towards Colombo. Its driver and two passengers were orderd to get down.

The terrorist in the sunglasses took the wheel, while the two squads of bank robbers scrambled into the hijacked van. There were 10 DJV terrorists in the van.

Over two million rupees in cash and jewellery were robbed from the two banks.

The robbers then drove to ‘L’s home, where ‘Pat’ instructed the hit squad members to disperse in trishaws.

‘Gamini’ stopped a vehicle at gunpoint and got into it with two others and directed they be driven to Angulana Railway Station and to Belekkade Junction in Ratmalana by using back roads. ‘Gamini’ then handed the revolver to ‘Pr.’

They then got into a Pettah bound bus. While ‘Pr’ got down at Ratmalana, ‘Gamini’ continued to Pettah and from there to ‘K’s safe house at Punchi Borella.

The robbed cash and jewellery were taken by ‘Pat’ to be sent to the JVP leadership, less expense money.