1990 massacre of Sri Lankan Police officers

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1990 massacre of Sri Lankan Police officers
Part of the
LTTE

A

Sri Lanka Police officers in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Some accounts have estimated the number killed as high as 774.[2] It was the deadliest terrorist incident in the world at the time until the September 11 attacks
occurred in 2001.

Background

Indian intervention

According to the

Vishwanath Pratap Singh
consented and withdrew his force.

Breakdown of peace talks

Meanwhile, a Sri Lankan government delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Northeast Provincial Council and repealing of the Sixth Amendment to the constitution. LTTE chief political strategist and chief negotiator Anton Balasingham threatened the government, stating that "this is the last chance we give you. If you fail, we are prepared to wage war". The situation worsened after Sri Lankan Minister of Defence Ranjan Wijeratne asked the LTTE to lay down arms. LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran
refused and hostilities between the government and the LTTE began to increase.

Preceding events

During this time, the Army was confined to the military camps. No action was taken against any of the LTTE activities for fear that peace talks would break down. But tension began to escalate by late May 1990. The army found that LTTE had constructed bunkers, dug trenches, and implemented other defense measures closer to the camps. But the Defense Ministry had instructed the Army to keep mute.[dubious ]

Thandikulam incident

On 7 June 1990, a vehicle carrying Army personnel from Vavuniya to Mullaitivu was fired at by the LTTE. One soldier died and nine were injured. But the Defense Ministry instructed to take no action.[dubious ]

Massacre

On 11 June 1990, at about 6:00 a.m., LTTE surrounded the Batticaloa police station and abducted 3 policemen. About an hour later, around 250 armed LTTE cadres occupied the police station. Then the

Tamil Police officers were taken to the St Mary's Church, with their families. The acting officer-in-charge and four other policemen were detained. LTTE also removed Rs. 45 million in cash, gold jewellery, 109 T 56 rifles; 77 T 84S rifles; 28 light machine guns; 29 self-loading rifles; 65 submachine guns; 78 .303 rifles and 78 SAR 80
guns from the police station.

LTTE ordered all police stations in Eastern Province to be vacated by 2:30 p.m. or face the consequences. The inspector general of Police, Ernest Perera, also instructed the police officers to surrender, at the request of President Ranasinghe Premadasa.[1][4] Police officers laid down their arms after being promised safe conduct and subsequent release.

Then the Sinhalese officers were sent to the Army or Air Force camps while Tamil officers were accommodated at schools. Meanwhile, the LTTE abducted 899 officers. About 125 were able to escape. Prisoners were taken to the Vinayagapuram and Trincomalee jungles.[5] Once they had arrived, the LTTE cadres lined up the officers, tied their hands behind their backs and shot them dead. In all, 600 to 774 police officers died.[2]

But not all the officers complied at once.

ASP Ivan Boteju, who was the OIC of Kalmunai police station, refused to surrender and kept on fighting with the LTTE from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. He protested insisting that they "would be tortured if not killed [if they surrendered]". Within that period, he repeatedly requested air support and artillery support but was denied. At about 5:20 p.m. the IGP personally contacted Boteju, ordered them to cease firing and surrender. When they had laid down their arms, LTTE took over and all communications with the Colombo Police headquarters were lost. Then the LTTE cadres took them to the Tirukkovil jungles and executed them.[6]

In Kalmunai, LTTE also fired at an Army convoy, killing ten Army soldiers. It was reported that 324 police officers who died were Sinhalese and Muslim. All of them were taken to the Tirukovil jungles by the LTTE and shot. It was later found out that these police officers were massacred using the weapons that R. Premadasa had clandestinely given the LTTE.

Aftermath

Sri Lanka's chief peace negotiator Minister Shahul Hameed's attempts to rescue the officers in detention went in vain. This massacre officially put an end to the ceasefire between the government and the LTTE. On 18 June 1990, the Minister of Defence

North and Eastern provinces by July 1990.[3] Before this incident, LTTE had no conventional fighting capabilities. During Eelam War I, LTTE was merely a guerilla outfit.[7]

At the time of this massacre, LTTE's peace delegation comprising Jude – an LTTE communication specialist – and two military wing cadres were at

Major General Sarath Munasinghe's book A Soldiers Version, the LTTE radio operator [Jude] had a message from Prabhakaran: "Whatever happens, ensure that the money offered is brought with you".[7]

The massacre provoked revenge riots in the Gal Oya valley, instigated by policemen. 26 Tamils were killed by Sinhalese mobs.[9]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b "Recalling the saddest day in Lankan Police history". Lanka Newspapers. 2011. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Killing of 774 policemen". Rivira. 2011. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  3. ^ a b Rajasingham, K. T. (2002). "Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 44: Eelam war – again". Asia Times. Archived from the original on 17 September 2002. Retrieved 13 June 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ Staff (2011). "There are 600 plus (murdered) Police officers inside the one you see today". Daily News. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  5. UTHR. UTHR. 2001. Archived
    from the original on 12 November 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2007.
  6. ^ Seneviratne, SSP Tassie (2011). "'The Saddest Day in Police History'". Sunday Observer. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  7. ^ a b c "Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 44: Eelam war – again". Lanka Newspapers. 2011. Archived from the original on 17 September 2002. Retrieved 12 June 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ Staff (2011). "Police honour slain comrades of 1990 massacre". Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  9. ^ "The East: Report from the Times of London JP Pogrom 1 by James Pringle". uthr.org. UTHR-J. Retrieved 8 August 2019.

External links