Three attempts were made on Rajapaksa’s life: Army
karthika
B. Muralidhar Reddy
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother and
Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa escaped “by a whisker” at least
three assassination attempts by LTTE suicide squads, thanks to
“tightened security arrangements”, said the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) on
Friday.
In a report posted on its website, the Army said the information came
to light in the course of a court inquiry into the Wellawatte (Tamil
dominated area in Colombo) suicide bomber’s death.
The Army said state intelligence wings had unravelled several
“intended terrorist bloodbaths”.
“The most recent arrest of an LTTE mastermind who has been operating
with the support of several others in Colombo revealed that all three
attempts made on the lives of President and Defence Secretary have
failed by a whisker due to tightened security network,” it said.
The Army said information provided by an arrested Tiger, who had
received special training in Kilinochchi for VIP assassination plans,
led State Intelligence Service (SIS) to four LTTE suicide jackets
hidden in the ceiling of a luxurious residential apartment in
Wellawatte on May 14.
“As the SIS officers in the company of the said arrested terrorist
surrounded the 7th floor of the residential complex, one more youth,
an undergraduate in engineering in the Moratuwa University who was
also to be arrested for his links with Tigers, suddenly ran and
committed suicide by jumping off the building. The deceased was later
identified as Thamodaram Pillai Sujindran,” said the Army.
It said investigations confirmed that the dead terrorist’s brother,
who was now living in London, was one of the three owners of the
Wellawatte residential complex. “Findings confirmed he is a hardcore
LTTE operative who has been actively involved in the LTTE’s
international network. SIS investigators later on took his sister,
mother and three more youngsters studying in a private school into
custody for interrogation.”
The first assassination attempt on the President, according to the
arrested Tiger, was made while he was attending a passing-out parade
at Diyatalawa military academy on December 20. A military officer who
had been involved in the plan has also been arrested.
The second attempt was to be carried out when he was participating in
the “Deyata Kirula” exhibition here on April 4. “The suicide bomber
had sought permission to enter the premises in the company of the
arrested military officer, but the senior police officer in charge of
security did not allow them.”
The third attempt was of a “complex nature”. LTTE suicide bombers
executed a suicide attack on a group of Ministers attending a Muslim
religious function at Godakapitiya in Akuressa, Matara on March 10.
“Tiger terrorists, presuming that President would be coming to see
[the] hospitalised Ministers, dispatched a suicide cadre to the
hospital premises, but the target did not meet its fruition”.