MI5’s alleged role in Sri Lanka’s 1971 revolt resurfaces through the Deniyaya rebellion, Dr. Rex de Costa’s murder, and rebel operations.
MI5 involvement in Sri Lanka’s 1971 revolt has resurfaced through accounts of the Deniyaya rebellion, the Good Friday murder of Dr. Rex de Costa, and secret operations against JVP rebels.
The killing of the Deniyaya doctor shocked the nation during the April 1971 rebellion.
Many incidents unfolded during the 15 days when rebels controlled the Deniyaya area.
Among the 37 police officers killed by rebels across the country was Constable No. 4706 Mayadunne of the Deniyaya Police.
In addition, 41 ordinary civilians were killed by rebels nationwide.
Among those civilians, the most prominent professional figure recognized both nationally and internationally was Dr. Rex de Costa, who served in Deniyaya and was later murdered there.
There were 71 rebels operating in the Deniyaya area.
The War Coordination Officer appointed by the government for the Matara District was Lieutenant Colonel Dulip Wickramanayake.
The Matara District leader during the April Rebellion was Nikape Andiarachchige Piyasena Wickramanatne, also known as Maharagama Susil Wickrama.
A total of 18 rebels were killed in Deniyaya during the rebellion.
Under Investigation No. 94 Deniyaya, the Criminal Justice Commission charged 90 people over rebel activities in the area.
Charge sheets were served on them on 20 August 1973.
However, 30 of them did not appear before the commission.
Forty-five people pleaded guilty.
Although the remaining 15 were declared innocent, the charges against them were still heard.
One of the most shocking incidents of the 1971 rebellion was the murder of Dr. Rex de Costa, a 51-year-old plantation owner and popular doctor in Deniyaya.
His medical centre was located in a house on the southern side of Deniyaya Junction, next to the People’s Bank.
Born on June 15, 1920, in Colombo, Dr. Costa was educated at Royal College, Colombo, where he later obtained his medical degree.
He joined the army during World War II and served as a medical officer.
His service was appreciated by the British Queen.
He later joined the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Service and continued until he retired at the age of 36 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
After leaving the army, Dr. Costa settled in Deniyaya in 1967 due to family connections.
He was married to Doreen Gunathilaka and was the father of four children: Marcel, Cheryl, Rex, and Eric.
Several of his children studied at St. Aloysius’ College, Galle.
Dr. Costa’s assassination received wide publicity because he had been appointed Vice-President of the World War Veterans’ Association at its 8th General Assembly in Rome.
The organization was headquartered in Bangkok and had branches across the world.
Costa had worked for some time at the Bangkok office.
He had also served as Secretary of the Sri Lankan branch of the Ex-Servicemen’s Association since 1952 and represented Sri Lanka at many international conferences.
Dr. Costa was killed by rebels on 9 April 1971 at around 9 a.m.
It was Good Friday.
His body was buried on April 11 at the cemetery of St. Matthew’s Church in Deniyaya, where Father Jayathilaka served as caretaker.
St. Matthew’s Church had been built by Dr. Costa’s grandfather, D. M. Rajapaksa, as a memorial to Catholic faithful.
One of his great-grandfathers was the late William Abeysundara, who once headed the Galle church.
A school was later established there.
Costa was assassinated by Mawarala rebels who had retreated to Deniyaya after the April 5 attack.
In the early hours of that day, rebels led by Jayatissa attacked the Deniyaya Police Station for the second time and took control of the town.
A group of Mawarala rebels who arrived in a Morriston Estate lorry opened fire on Costa’s house at around 9 a.m.
The rebels accused Costa of preparing a security plan for the Deniyaya police after the April 5 attack.
They also accused him of keeping the radio transmitters of the Enasal Estate radio station in his house at the request of police and treating injured police officers there.
Ten rebels were charged before the Criminal Justice Commission over the murder of Dr. Costa.
Of the ten accused, seven pleaded guilty and three pleaded not guilty.
Those who pleaded guilty were N. E. L. Cyril, R. Namadasa, Patitiya Duragge Premadasa alias Kiria, R. Wimaladasa, M. P. Ariyasena, M. M. John, and Sunil A. Wickramasinghe.
Those who pleaded not guilty were G. K. Premathilaka, L. V. K. Geeganage, and M. G. Sumanasiri.
At the final hearing, nine were sentenced to between two and four years’ imprisonment for the murder.
Urubokka Keerapitiya Manamperi Gunawardena Sumanasiri, alias Gunapala, who was convicted over the killing, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Two of his brothers had also joined the rebellion.
After Dr. Costa’s murder, his family left Deniyaya and moved to Colombo.
The Deniyaya house was later handed over to a convent.
Gunapala, who was convicted in the Costa murder case, was held in Ward P of the New Magazine Prison in Borella and assigned to the sewing section.
Other suspects in the same ward included Wijeweera, Piyathilaka, Aladin Subasinghe, and others.
Wards G, H, and P belonged to the same section.
One prisoner in that section was Kodagoda Addara Amarasinghe Ananda Ranjith, alias Podi Ranjiya, who had been a full-time JVP campaigner in Deniyaya since early 1968.
Ranjith Amarasinghe, born on December 26, 1950, in Divelawatta, Kirulapone, Deniyaya, told the writer that Gunapala had said he would not hesitate to fulfill responsibilities assigned to him.
When Ranjith married teacher Leelawathi Manage on 12 June 1979, JVP leader Rohana Wijeweera came to Udapeekwella, Matara, to sign as one of the witnesses.
After the Criminal Justice Commission (Abolition) Act came into force on 27 October 1977, rebels including Wijeweera were released on 2 November 1977.
M. G. Sumanasiri alias Gunapala, who had been serving a sentence for Costa’s murder, was also released.
After his release, Gunapala returned to farming and married the daughter of an old village headman in Panakaduwa, Pasgoda.
He later started a business manufacturing peanut packets and distributing them by motorcycle.
During the second JVP rebellion in 1989, his legs were broken by a paramilitary group in Rotubedi, Matara.
He is also said to have joined a protest movement in Colombo in 2003.
Gunapala, the father of one child, died in 2011.
His brother Ranjith Pushpakumara was also reportedly murdered in 1989.
It was P. Gamage who brought security secrets to Rohana Wijeweera.
“S-5” was his code number.
Letters regularly sent to an address near his house carried “S-5” marked on the top-left corner of the envelopes.
Osman de Silva of Wanathamulle told the writer that he personally ensured those letters reached Wijeweera.
Although many know of S-5 or P. Gamage, his full name and background had not been fully revealed for years.
To learn more about Gamage, 55 years after his death, the writer met his surviving family members in Deniyaya.
In Wijeweera’s statement before the Criminal Justice Commission, Gamage was mentioned as follows:
“…I explained in my testimony that we read the police circulars through the office of the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Kalmunai, and that it was learned that he had been arrested and killed by the police. Through these documents, we came to know the orders sent by the IGP to the Superintendents and Deputy Superintendents of Police regarding the suppression of the JVP…”
Pintheris Gamage, alias P. Gamage, was born on June 6, 1945, in Samanpaya, Pothdeniya, Urubokka.
His father, James, a farmer, died when he was still young.
His mother was Moragala Babyhami Atapattu.
The couple had seven children, and Pintheris was the fourth.
His elder sisters were Somawathi, Nandawathi, and Yasawathi, while his younger brothers were Piyadasa, Jinadasa, and Karunadasa.
He studied at Kongasdeniya Junior College and Urubokka Maha Vidyalaya.
Gamage was one of the first two students from that school to enter university; the other was Kumaradasa.
He later entered the University of Peradeniya and graduated from the Arts Faculty.
After passing the Central Clerk Recruitment Examination, he joined government service as a clerk.
His first appointment was to the office of the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Matara.
Later, he was attached to the office of the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Kalmunai under the Batticaloa Police Superintendent.
Hettar Weerasinghe was the Superintendent of Police in Matakadapuwa at the time.
Gamage’s bank account was at the People’s Bank branch at Arasandi Junction, Batticaloa.
Gamage joined the JVP in late 1967.
He also attended a seven-day camp at the house of Siripala Abeywardena in Dematagamuwa, Kataragama, in late 1968.
Sumith Athukorala, Piyathilaka Samararatne, Francis Abeywickrama, Ranjith Amarasinghe, Wijeweera, Premasiri, Siripala, and around 30 others also attended.
He had left police service after taking leave a few days before the April 5 uprising.
After the attack on the Vavuniya Police Station on April 5, Gamage was arrested by the Wellawali police with several other rebels.
He was later handed over to Batticaloa police and reportedly died under torture.
Pintheris Gamage was unmarried at the time of his death.
Gamage’s younger brother, Piyadasa alias Sisira Lanka, owned Beralapanatara Lalitha Studio.
Sisira also worked as the Beralapanatara correspondent for several newspapers.
During the April 1971 uprising, he searched tirelessly for his brother Pintheris.
During the second JVP uprising in 1989, a paramilitary group affiliated with the security forces stormed his photography studio, killed him, and dumped his body in Deniyaya, Kirulapone.
Similarly, two children of Gamage’s elder sister Somawathi, a mother of six, were also killed during the second JVP uprising in 1989.
During the 15 days of rebel control in Deniyaya, public disputes were resolved through makeshift courts on Temple Road.
Many complaints were submitted during that period, most involving land disputes.
The army arrived in Deniyaya town at 7 a.m. on April 24, 1971, and re-established government control.
Helicopters flew overhead and dropped several bombs.
A few days later, army units began encircling the Sinharaja jungles with hunting dogs.
The leader of the Mawarala rebellion was Robert Jayasekara, a teacher.
After his arrest, leadership passed to “Kakula Kota” Wijenayake.
The deputy leader of Mawarala was David Manamperiya.
Wijenayake was later killed during the rebellion.
After the April 5 attack, Urubokka Dampahale Francis Abeywickrama alias Pantis, Gamini Madarasinghe, Alukumbure Wijeyadasa, and several others who had retreated from Hambantota joined the Deniyaya region.
During the 1971 JVP rebellion, the Samagi Peramuna government received military advice from Britain’s MI5 intelligence service.
This was revealed by investigative journalist Peel Miral in his 2015 research.
Officers from the intelligence service came to Sri Lanka after April 5, 1971, at the invitation of the Sri Lankan government.
After meeting Defense Secretary S. A. Dissanayake, they guided security forces in implementing several operational plans.
One step involved gathering inside information to attack rebel hideouts.
Accordingly, spies were sent to several districts, including Matara, Kurunegala, Kegalle, Anuradhapura, and Galle.
A man posing as a media representative of a foreign embassy, accompanied by a Sinhala interpreter, travelled to Deniyaya in a vehicle to meet the rebels.
He told them he wished to meet several rebel leaders to discuss the possibility of providing life protection, food, medical care, and other facilities.
The rebels were told that a discussion had been arranged at a bungalow in the Morningside Estate the following day.
Several people, including Deniyaya rebel leader Jayatissa, went there for the meeting.
It is said Jayatissa died in military gunfire on 31 May 1971 as a result of that operation.
Police cremated Jayatissa’s body near Deniyaya Central College.
That was the fate of the Deniyaya rebel leader who was ultimately caught in the crosshairs of Britain’s MI5 intelligence service.
By the end of May, Deniyaya rebels surrendered in small groups to regional government offices.
Sirimevan Chandraskara, who became the second leader after Jayatissa’s assassination, was among them.
One person who came to surrender was Sanchi Haminela’s Leslie, a barber at a Deniyaya barber shop.
The shop owner, Ranatunga, was also arrested and killed.
His body was tied to a jeep and paraded around the town by security forces.
Major Perera was charged with the crime.
Jayasinghe Arachchige Don Nandasena, alias Karate Nand, was a member of the Deniyaya rebellion.
Born on 14 June 1947, he studied at Deniyaya Maha Vidyalaya.
He later joined the JVP as a full-time member in 1969.
He and several others retreated to the Diyadawa jungle after the defeat of the rebellion.
At the beginning, Jayatissa instructed all rebels to retreat to Sinharaja using three routes.
There were about 115 people in the three groups.
All food supplies were taken to the cardamom plantation and transported from there into the jungle by camels.
The group led by Munasinghe of Algiriya, who had retreated to Deniyaya, also moved toward Sinharaja.
Their final intention was to retreat to Vilumba Kanda in Elpitiya and join JVP groups there.
However, the plan was later abandoned.
The group that included Pantris, Lalith, and Manamperi, who had moved down from Mawarala, also entered Sinharaja.
In the end, only 37 people remained, as others had dispersed separately.
The last remaining group of Deniyaya rebels was arrested by the military in Sinharaja Mederipitiya on June 26, 1971.
They were then taken to a military camp.
The remaining rebels were forced to surrender at locations designated by the government.
SOURCE :- SRI LANKA GUARDIAN
