1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament

The 1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament is an attack that took place on August 18, 1987, when an assailant hurled two

Beginning in 1983,

Faced with the prospect of Indian military involvement to support the militants, Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayawardene was pressured into signing the

The JVP secondly attacked a government-broadcasting center and stole a radio set.[3]

Grenade attack

The first session of

According to a government press officer who was at the meeting, pandemonium reigned following the explosions. He said some legislators thought Parliament was under attack.[4] Using wooden chairs, they broke the thin plate glass overlooking the Parliament lawn to escape the room, and were immediately bundled into cars and driven away.^[4]

Member of Parliament for the Matara District Keerthisena Abeywickrama, whose face was blown off due to the explosion, was carried outside and rushed to hospital, but died on the way there.^[4] Norbert Senadeera, an official with the Parliament staff, died later of a shrapnel wound to the head.^[4][5] Sixteen others were injured in the attack, including National Security Advisor Lalith Athulathmudali, Prime Minister Premadasa and Ministers Gamini Jayasuriya, Montague Jayawickrama, and E. L. B. Hurulle.^[6][5] President J. R. Jayewardene escaped injury.^[1]

Although initial reports indicated that gunfire had preceded the attack,^[1] no shots were fired during the incident.^[4]

Aftermath of attack

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene blamed "terrorists" among the Sinhalese population for the incident. He also appealed for calm in the country, and called the attack an "attempt to destroy the parliamentary democratic system of the country".^[1]

A day after the attack, the

Although the Police sealed off the Parliament building following the attack, initial reports stated that the assailant fled in the panic that followed the explosions.^[1] No arrests were made immediately following the attack.^[7]

Subsequent investigations suggested that Ajith Kumara, an activist of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna who was working for a private catering service inside parliament, had thrown the grenades into the committee room. He was friendly with most of those working in the complex and had access to the room from where the bombs were flung. Kumara disappeared immediately after the incident. A Million LKR ($35,000) bounty was placed on his head, but he evaded arrest for several months. He was however subsequently arrested on April 8, 1988, when he tried to flee from police who were conducting an unrelated search for illegal liquor in Naula. The Police did not realize who he was until they conducted further investigations.^[4]

Trial

After his arrest, Ajith Kumara, along with four others, were charged with carrying out the grenade attack. They were indicted on ten counts, including

On October 12, 1990, the Colombo High Court at Bar delivered a unanimous verdict acquitting Kumara, the first accused, and M. Jayasiri Gunawardena, the fifth accused, due to lack of evidence. Delivering the verdict, High court judge Ananda Grero said the prosecution had not proved the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. The three other suspects had previously been acquitted on October 4.[5] During the trails, the defendants were represented by future Minister Susil Premajayantha and diplomat Mangala Moonesinghe.^[5]

Ajith Kumara was ultimately released on August 6, 1993. He entered politics afterwards, becoming an active member of the JVP, which had since been decriminalized. He later became a JVP politbureau member, Pradeshiya Sabha member and unsuccessful