The Rajanganaya Police Station in Anuradhapura District was one of the five police stations captured by the rebels during the April 1971 uprising, which took place 55 years ago. It is now known as the Thambuttegama Police Station. After capturing the Rajanganaya Police Station, the rebels took control of the Anuradhapura, Kekirawa, Galenbidunuwewa, Nochchiyagama, Padaviya, Medawachchiya, and Horowpathana police areas. Accordingly, these areas were almost completely under rebel control for about 25 days between April 6 and May 1, 1971. Security forces received information that hundreds of rebels were roaming the district dressed in blue trousers and shirts. The large area of the Anuradhapura District was covered by dense forest, and the population was scattered, which was particularly advantageous for the rebels. The War Coordination Officer appointed by the government for the Anuradhapura District during the 1971 rebellion was Colonel E. T. D. Abeysekara.
According to the decision of the JVP Politburo on April 2, 1971, W. T. Karunaratne was placed in charge of the zone comprising the districts of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, and Trincomalee. The JVP Anuradhapura District Secretary during the April uprising was W. M. Jayasinghe, alias Anuraya. However, the active but hidden leader was Nandana Marasinghe. Internal disagreements over leadership between Wijeweera and Loku Athula also affected the Anuradhapura group to some extent.
W. T. Karunaratne told the writer that on the evening of April 5, 1971, he went to the Unagaswewa camp in Anuradhapura with Don Walter, alias Wijayasiri, a founding member of the JVP, and that there were no reports of any attacks from Anuradhapura that night. Therefore, Karunaratne stated that he returned to Colombo the next day. Walter, a Sathosa employee born on May 8, 1943, in Depanama, who is said to have accompanied Karunaratne to Colombo, also confirmed these facts to the writer. Karunaratne was later arrested by security forces in Thirivanaketiya, Ratnapura, in late 1972. Subsequently, as the 37th accused in the main case, he pleaded guilty to all charges and received a light sentence. Karunaratne, who passed away a few years ago, met the writer several times at his home. A father of two, he spent his final years in an elderly home in Gampaha.
The JVP was introduced to the Anuradhapura District around 1966 by Piyasiri Gunaratne of Ambalangoda Gustinna Wadu. He was also known as Sarath Gunadasa, as well as Athula of Anuradhapura or Sarath of Trincomalee. Piyasiri stated to the writer that he received encouragement from L. M. Dinoris, a trade union leader in the Land Development Department, and Sanath Boralukatiya, a teacher at Mahapaladikulam School in Anuradhapura, a resident of Hikkaduwa Pathana. Piyasiri Gunaratne, born on November 7, 1939, worked as an office overseer in the Land Development Department. He moved to Anuradhapura in January 1956 and was later appointed as an office clerk on April 15, 1961, serving in Colombo, Kandalama, Huruluwewa, and Anuradhapura.
The first full-time District Secretary appointed by Wijeweera for the Anuradhapura District was W. M. Jayasinghe, alias Anuraya. Before the April 1971 uprising, key JVP activists in Anuradhapura included Nandana Marasinghe, Kachcheriye Karu, W. Gunapala, Heen Banda Ekanayake, Somapala Garusinghe, Horowpathane Ranatunga, Vipulasena Rajapaksa (later a principal and graduate teacher at Anuradhapura Central College), Aloka Banda Punchibandara Karunaratne alias Thambuttegama Karu, Thambuttegama Wilbert Perera, Ratnayake Mudiyanselage Wijeratne alias Kalu Wije, Susil Galgamuwa, Galenbidunuwewa Babanis, Thambuttegama Gunawardena alias Tikka, Leslie, Kachcheri Karu, Rajangana Yaya 03 Podi Disa, Upali Weragama, Tikka Gunaratne, and a group of others.
Other activists included Herath Ratnayake alias Susantha, Perera, a primary school teacher from Thambuttegama, Nanda, Ranmenika, Kumara Randeniya from Anuradhapura, Vajira Seneviratne, a dance teacher from Kuruluwewa College, and Punchi Menika and Leela from Rajanganaya. Thambuttegama Kamalawathi committed suicide in February 1971 because her parents did not allow her to join the JVP.
A number of weapons training camps were established throughout the district from 1970. The bulk of bomb-making took place in the Paniyankadawala forest and at Premadasa’s house. About three days before the uprising, 1,300 Chinese-made grenades and 500 Molotov cocktails filled with fuel were prepared and distributed to relevant locations. Gonawala Sunil of Kelaniya, who later became a well-known figure in the underworld in the 1980s, also came to Anuradhapura at the request of Nimalasiri Jayasinghe alias Loku Athula to train JVP activists in karate. At that time, he was known as Kadawatha Sunil. Karate training was held in December 1969 at a rock shelter in the Handagala forest.
Thirteen police constables in the Anuradhapura District were killed by rebels during the April 1971 uprising. A memorial was later built in their honor, initiated by M. K. A. D. S. Gunawardena, who later became a Trincomalee District Councillor and Minister. Two police officers were also killed during the attack on Rajanganaya Police Station: Constables 6132 Jayaweera and 7277 Kanapathipilla. The officer-in-charge of the station was Inspector S. A. Seneviratne. Among the rebels who attacked the station were Ruben, Kalu Wije, Tikka (R. K.), M. Gunawardena, Susantha, Gunapala Jayawardena, Thambuttegama Karu, Nawakkulama Podi Wije, and others. About 40 attackers were involved. They seized two firearms, 105 rounds of ammunition, and 150 tin bombs. Two constables, Illangakon and Jinadasa, surrendered to the rebels. Of the 12 officers at the station, the rest fled. The attack took place around 5 a.m. A later attempt to attack Nochchiyagama Police Station failed.
More than one hundred rebels were killed in clashes between security forces and rebels in the Anuradhapura District. The highest number—65—died in Kekirawa and surrounding areas in the first half of May 1971. Only one student from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura was killed in the uprising: Lokubanda (L. B.) Seneviratne of Anuradhapura, who was killed at Kahatagasdigiliya. After the uprising, Vidyodaya (Jayewardenepura) University was used as a detention camp where thousands of suspects were held.
A number of employees of the Land Development Department were also involved in the rebellion in the Anuradhapura District. One of the leaders was Kaluperuma Nomis de Silva, known as “Captain Silva,” who had been active since 1969 in promoting JVP politics. He was born on December 23, 1930, in Beruwala, and worked in various locations including Colombo, Kandalama, Huruluwewa, and Anuradhapura. He was a father of eight children.
Amaradasa Marasinghe, alias Nandana, was a key rebel leader in the Anuradhapura District. He was highly mobile and organized groups and activities. While studying at Anuradhapura Central College, he joined the JVP in October 1968 through a teacher and became a full-time member. He first attended a training camp in Middeniya in December 1968 and was first arrested in Minneriya in 1970. During the April uprising, he joined a group of 60 people from Anuradhapura who traveled by bus from Vidyodaya University to Jaffna under the leadership of Karate Samson, Ambalangoda Thilakasiri, and Kotawala Dewasiri Thero in an attempt to free Wijeweera. After the attempt failed, he managed to escape.
To rescue those arrested during the 1971 uprising, a JVP group led by Nandana Marasinghe attacked the Anuradhapura Prison on June 13, 1972, and freed 31 JVP activists including Piyadasa Ranasinghe, Heenbanda Wanasinghe, and Akuressa Francis. Later, using the same opportunity, seven prisoners including four criminals who accompanied Marasinghe also escaped. Again, under his leadership, JVP members entered Anuradhapura Prison on September 29, 1972, by tying vines to the wall, threw bombs, and freed 134 detainees involved in the 1971 uprising before escaping. Marasinghe was later arrested in 1973 at Maradana Technical Junction but escaped again at Kalawewa railway station on June 30, 1975, and was finally arrested again on July 18, 1975, at a house on Boralesgamuwa Road in Maharagama.
After his release in 1978, Marasinghe contributed to the JVP’s “Vimukthi Gee” movement. In 1981, he left the JVP and formed an organization called Janatha Kala Kendraya, focusing on Rajarata. The Ravaya concert of the time emerged as an alternative to Vimukthi Gee. Sunila Abeysekera also participated in it. Following the Indo-Lanka Accord, the Anuradhapura District Citizens’ Committee was formed in 1987, with Marasinghe as its convener. During the second JVP uprising, he was killed by rebels at Anuradhapura Market on November 27, 1987.
Wijerathna Ratnayake, alias Kalu Wije, was the leader of the group that captured the Rajanganaya Police Station. Born on April 6, 1950, in Thalawa, he was a farmer by profession. He stated to the writer that after attending a political camp in Thambuttegama in 1969 under Wijeweera’s leadership, he abandoned his A/L studies at Gamini Maha Vidyalaya and became a full-time JVP member. He was arrested on November 21, 1972, in Piliyandala and released on January 2, 1978.
One of the activists in the group that attacked Galenbidunuwewa Police Station was Mudugamuwa Hewage Francis. Born on January 3, 1948, in Paraduwa, Akuressa, he was a trainee science teacher at Maharagama Teachers’ College. His first appointment was to Urubokka Maha Vidyalaya in July 1968. He joined the JVP through his principal Jayasinghe. During the uprising, he served at Galenbidunuwewa Sivalakulam Maha Vidyalaya in Anuradhapura. The leader of the attack on Galenbidunuwewa Police Station was Gomarankalle Karu, with Ranjith as second-in-command. Among the attackers were Karunadasa, Bailing, Kuttukulame Herath, Jayawickrama, Raja, Warnakulasuriya, Jayathilaka, and student activists including Kuliyankulame Subasinghe and Dayapala Seneviratne. After the attack, about 125 rebels retreated to the Kaludewa forest and later to Ritigala. Among them were Rohini, Geetha, Karuna Sudharma, Daya, and Anula. A group including Nochchiyankulam Ranasinghe later retreated to Wilpattu along with Marasinghe and Garusinghe’s group.
A group that retreated from the attack stayed at the Unagaswewa Camp, a small farm of about one acre with a chicken coop, henna plantation, and a large tree. Jayasinghe was also present there. Plans were made to reorganize and carry out further attacks, including targeting security vehicles, blocking roads by destroying bridges and culverts, and attacking the Kelaththewa electricity substation. Some of these plans were implemented. Later, they decided to join groups that were still holding police stations locally. At that time, nearly 100 people were in those groups, with Somapala Garusinghe also acting as a leader.
The Anuradhapura rebels managed to control Rajanganaya and its surroundings for 25 days. When the army regained control, the rebels first retreated to the Otthappuwa forest in Nochchiyagama, where about 91 armed rebels, including leaders such as Thambuttegama Karu and Heen Banda, were based in a secret camp. Information about the camp was revealed to the army by Kangeta Wije, who had been arrested in Thalawa. The army then attacked the camp for several weeks, including aerial bombardments using mortar shells and helicopters. The camp on the Siyambalagama forest hill was also attacked, where Gunasekara and Rambanda were killed and Ruben was arrested. Later, the rebels retreated further to Kodithuwakkuwewa.
Another group of about 40 retreated to the Sudugala forest in Hirigollegama, Nawakkulama, where two Land Development Department employees were killed in a military attack. Villages such as Hirigollagama, Nawakkulama, and Nelumthottuma became JVP bases, led by Siriwardana. Heen Banda later left the camp and retreated to Wilpattu with his group, where they joined other groups including Gamini Samaranayake and others from Anuradhapura. Eventually, various groups in Wilpattu merged into a group of nearly 100 people. Others from Kurunegala, Thulhiriya, and Kegalle also joined. The victims of these clashes included Nittambuwe Dharma, a University of Peradeniya student, Sujatha Hadagama of Kegalle, Ananda Gamage of Weligama, and 10-year-old Unagaswewa Swarnalatha, a primary school student from Anuradhapura.
Similarly, a camp in the Chulakkaduwa area of Anuradhapura was attacked and captured on June 12, 1971, and several rebels, including Anula Samarasinghe, were arrested. Nine rebels held at the Anuradhapura rehabilitation camp escaped on the night of February 14, 1974, through a 40-foot secret tunnel, according to the Deputy Inspector General of Police for the North Central Province. The Senapura camp in Anuradhapura was closed in 1973, and remaining detainees were transferred to the rehabilitation camp.
On November 8, 1974, the government issued a press release requesting public assistance in arresting two key leaders involved in the April uprising in the Anuradhapura District: Somapala Garusinghe and Ekanayake Mudiyanselage Ekanayake, also known as Lokubanda Ekanayake or Kalagedi Ekanayake. The notice stated that the IGP had announced a reward of Rs. 30,000 for information leading to their arrest and Rs. 15,000 for the arresting officers.
Somapala Garusinghe, born on April 8, 1948, in Welikatiya, Akuressa, passed his matriculation while training at Maharagama Teachers’ College in 1969. He later worked as a science teacher at Trincomalee Central College. Police records state that he was involved in uprisings in Vavuniya, Horowpathana, Kantale, Kahatagasdigiliya, Galenbidunuwewa, and Anuradhapura. He was arrested near Hurulu Wewa in Anuradhapura on November 18, 1976. After his release, he rejoined the education service on March 29, 1978, and retired as Deputy Director of Education of the Western Province in 2008.
Police also stated that Lokubanda Ekanayake was wanted in connection with the Galenbidunuwewa uprising and the murders of Sub-Inspector Abeykoon and Police Sergeant Punchihewa of Kahatagasdigiliya Police. He was the principal of Palugollagama College in Galenbidunuwewa, Anuradhapura, and was known as a skilled marksman and bomb-maker, earning him the nickname “Bomb King.” He reportedly made large bombs capable of being placed in 45-gallon barrels and had escaped from prison twice. He allegedly led the attack on the Anuradhapura army camp during the uprising and stated that three members of his group were killed there.
Also known as Deegajanthu or Tikiribanda, he was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Police Division on January 17, 1975, in Ratnapura. After 1978, he was appointed acting principal of his former school and later became chairman of the Galenbidunuwewa Pradeshiya Sabha representing the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna in 1997.
