61st Death Anniversary (1959 – 2020) The Assassination of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike An Anecdotal Reflection-by Senaka Weeraratna

S.W.R.D Bandaranayake

It was a Friday fifty six years ago to be exact on September 25, 1959 at around 10.30 a.m. in the morning when I was in the class room listening to Mr. H.P. Jayawardena’s English lesson in our final year at Royal Primary School, that my eye caught a movement in the corridor adjoining the class. When I looked sideways to my left I saw young Anura Bandaranaike being accompanied by his Ayah leaving the premises. In that relatively quiet moment my class mates too saw Anura being led away but none was able to second guess the reason.

It was during the lunch hour that we got the distressing news that Anura’s father Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, then Prime Minister of Ceylon, had been shot. Amidst a variety of reports streaming in of the shooting it was not possible to give adequate attention to any class room instruction for the rest of the day. In that very class of Mr. H.P. Jayawardena we had a number of students who shot to national prominence in public life as adults. Ranil Wickremesinghe (Prime Minister), Dinesh Gunawardena (ex – Cabinet Minister), late C.R. de Silva (former Attorney – General), Dr. Ajita Wijesundere (leading Gynecologist), and Sarath Abeysundera (successful Sri Lankan entrepreneur in UK) were among them.

In 1959 Anura Bandaranaike was in Mr. T.William’s class, which also had Anura de Alwis (son of Duncan de Alwis, Private Secretary to the Prime Minister). Both were close friends. It is said that when Anura had wanted to invite only his favourite friends to celebrate his birthday, his famous father had given him an important lesson saying ‘ if you are inviting any one to your birthday party, do not pick and choose. Invite the entire class’. To a politician alienating someone by not inviting was far more damaging than the benefits accruing from inviting a close friend.

Anura’s mother Mrs. Srima Bandaranaike used to visit Royal Primary School to inquire into Anura’s well being as a school boy, at a time when her husband was running the country. In 1957 S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was the Chief Guest at the Royal Primary School Prize Giving held on February 15, 1957. Both S.W.R.D. and Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaike were present on that occasion. ‘ Gateway ‘ the Magazine of the Royal Primary School in its last issue ( in 1958) has faithfully published the Annual Report of A.F. de Saa Bandaranaike, then Headmaster of Royal Primary School, where he pays a glowing tribute to his name sake the visiting Chief Guest. A.F. de Saa Bandaranaike, retired as Headmaster in 1958 and with his retirement the highly informative Magazine ‘Gateway’ which he started and continued for 10 years, was discontinued by his successor for reasons that are not rationally fathomable.

Bandaranaike’s last appeal to the nation – show compassion to my assailant

The train of events commencing from the time of shooting to the rushing of the Prime Minister to the General Hospital at Borella is well known and constitutes public knowledge. He was operated by a team of top doctors in an operation that lasted for more than five hours. The country held its breadth during that time. Dr. M. V. P. Peries, Dr. P. R. Anthonis , Dr. L. O. Silva and Dr. Noel Bartholomeusz were in that team.

Upon being admitted to the Merchants’ Ward after surgery, the Prime Minister issued a message to the nation from his hospital bed showing extreme generosity of spirit towards the man who had shot him. He described the assailant as a foolish man dressed in the robes of a monk” and then said ‘‘I appeal to all concerned to show compassion to this man and not to try and wreak vengeance on him’.

His condition took a turn for the worse in the early hours of the morning the next day. He passed away at around 8.00 a.m. on Saturday September 26. About 13 years ago I met Dr. P.R. Anthonis at a public Meeting held in Colombo and had an opportunity to talk to him at leisure. To my specific question Dr. Anthonis said that he was present when Mr. Bandaranaike died on the bed in Hospital. He i.e. Mr. Bandaranaike had asked for a bottle of Orange Barley which had been supplied to him. Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaike had also been present. After he drank a glass of Orange Barley, the body had turned ‘blue’ due to a clot in a blood vessal restricting the flow of oxygen to his brain. Soon afterwards Mr. Bandaranaike had died. Dr. Anthonis also gave another important clarification. He added that he was present in the Hospital until the remains of Mr. Bandaranaike were taken to his residence at Rosmead Place. He had not seen any Christian priests administering last rites in Hospital as falsely rumored. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike died as a Buddhist, Dr. Anthonis told me.

Upon the announcement of the death over the Radio the country was plunged into mourning. The Radio played solemn music. A verdict of homicide was recorded by the City Coroner. People started queuing in their hundreds to pay their last respects to the man who ushered in the ‘Common man’s era ‘through the political revolution of 1956 which he led.

Personal memoir

On a personal note I wish to mention here that I visited No. 65, Rosmead Place in the company of my father, mother and brother at around 7.30 p.m. on Saturday September 26. We did not join a queue. We were ushered into the main house. I saw the inside of the house full of black ebony furniture and the bullet holes in the glass panes. I met both Anura and one of his two sisters probably Chandrika and conveyed my condolences. My parents and brother did likewise. Anura recognized me but he was too dazed to engage me in a conversation. Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaike was inside a room naturally in a state of deep grief. I had occasion rather my father to speak very briefly to the driver of the Cadillac car who drove the injured Prime Minister to the Hospital. His name was Miskin. He was a Police Sergeant. Around the time we were paying our respects to the late Prime Minster at his residence, I remember seeing very clearly Mr. Sydney de Zoysa, then a senior DIG, slowly circling in measured steps the coffin with both his hands inserted in his trouser back pockets while hundreds of mourners were filing past the remains of the late leader in despair. The poignant scene at the Bandaranaike household which I visited and saw in the evening of September 26, 1959 in the capacity of a tender age school boy will always remain etched in my memory.

The story is not over yet. On Sunday September 27, 1959 morning at about 10.00 o clock I was travelling with my father and uncle in our car and near Cambridge Place we switched on the Car Radio and I heard the last few sentences of a sermon praising the late Prime Minister and the Radio Announcer thereafter saying that it was a talk delivered by Mapitigama Buddharakkhita Thero as a tribute to the late Prime Minister. On reaching our Shop at Maradana that morning I met Mr. Egerton C. Baptist, the well – known author of several Buddhist texts, for the first time. He had come to meet my uncle. His son Randolph Baptist was my classmate at school.

The next day Monday September 28, 1959 was the day that Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was scheduled to leave the country for the United Nations to address the General Assembly. Instead his remains were taken carried on the shoulders of his Cabinet Ministers from his residence to the top of Rosmead Place where the Coffin was placed inside a Hearse and taken to the Parliament. I was an eye witness of this procession as I was seated on a wall adjoining a piece of land in Rosmead Place where my uncle was building a House whose first tenant was incidentally Dr. Mackie Ratwatte, Mrs. Bandaranaike’s brother.

In that procession of Cabinet Ministers carrying the coffin on their shoulders was Mrs. Wimala Wijewardena (then Minster of Health). I can still remember her clad in a white sari using one hand to keep up the Coffin while using the other hand to adjust her Sari Pota which was constantly dropping down. The role played by Mapitigama Buddharakkhita Thero in the conspiracy to assassinate the late Prime Minister is well documented. Mrs. Wimala Wijewardena was an accused in the political assassination inquiry into the death of the late Prime Minister.

My class at Royal Primary School was taken by bus to pay our last respects to the late Prime Minister when the remains were kept on display in the Parliament. To us schoolboys the assassination of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was somewhat of a nerve racking event from many points of view. His son Anura was our class mate whose funeral also I attended a few years ago at Horagolla, together with several of my RC 1960 group friends.

Anura – an enigma

Anura ‘s life was shattered by the assassination of his father at such a young age. He never received the guidance of a father figure. He became reclusive in the first few months following his father’s death. He was always dressed in white and was no longer the bubbly boy. He had more security whenever he came to school intermittently. We all felt very sorry for him.

Anura was no ordinary boy. He had a deep voice. A commanding voice which I had not come across in any other school boy of his age. He had a liberal spirit and was very much inclined towards the West. In year 1961 when I was the class monitor in a class conducted by Mr. T.D.S.A. Dissanayake ( famous author and diplomat) there was a debate held after hours presided by the late Mr. Upali Attanayake (dramatist). The topic of the debate was Capitalism or Socialism. It was the time when President John F. Kennedy was the US President. Anura, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Vijitha Kuruwita (later a well known Vet) spoke and defended Capitalism while W.S. de Silva, Chitta Ranjan de Silva ( Bulla )and myself spoke on the merits of socialism. The debate was well attended. We were not hesitant in adopting positions that we had faith in at that point in time.

I have shared these thoughts as they relate to several schoolboys, my class mates, who have later become national figures and whose life stories have become part of the national story. I would like to end this anecdotal account by quoting Voltaire who said as follows:

Whoso writes the history of his own time must expect to be attacked for everything he has said, and for everything he has not said: but those little drawbacks should not discourage a man who loves truth and liberty, expects nothing, fears nothing, asks nothing, and limits his ambition to the cultivation of letters”

Senaka Weeraratna

A Response to “The Assassination of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike An Anecdotal Reflection”

The impact of that single assassination was tremendous at that time. The murder of a prime minister was sensationally shocking news. It was the first major political assassination experienced by the Island

nation in the post-Independence era

SWRD Bandaranaike was proud of having ushered in the age of the common man. His Government was regarded by the masses as “Apey aanduwe” or our Government. One manifestation of this was the easy access the

people had to their Prime Minister

Given the levels of security available to VVIP’s today it is mind boggling to know that only a police sergeant was in charge of the Prime Minister’s security then. Even the sergeant-in-charge was not on

duty that morning. Only a constable had been at the gates

D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Sixty-one years ago on September 25, 1959 Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (SWRDB) the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka known as Ceylon then was shot and seriously wounded by a Buddhist monk. Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike succumbed to his injuries

and passed away the following day. Therefore September 26, 1959 got etched as an important date in the post-independence history annals of Sri Lanka.

political assassinations became a regular feature in Sri Lanka.. The death was an event of great historical importance too as it was the first ever assassination of a major political personality in the Island nation at that time. Thereafter September 26, 1959

got etched as an important date in the post-independence annals of Sri Lanka. It is against this backdrop that this column delves into what happened six decades ago relying to a very great extent on earlier writings in this regard.

SWRD Bandaranaike as Premier was officially ensconced in the Prime minister’s official residence “Temple Trees” at Galle Road, Kollupitiya. Bandaranaike also divided his time between the ancestral manor at Horagolla Walauwe and his private residence “Tintagel”

on 65 Rosemead place, Colombo 7. SWRDB was at “Tintagel” on the fateful Friday he was shot.

A Buddhist monk named Ven. Talduwe Somarama Thero was among those who came to meet Bandaranaike on the morning of September 25,1959. It was a Friday. The monk was a lecturer at the Government College of Ayurveda or indigenous medicine in Borella. Somarama

Thero also had an Ayurvedic eye clinic in Borella.The ostensible reason for the monk wanting to meet the PM was to appraise him of requirements for the Ayurveda College.

Talduwe Somarama’s name at birth was Talduwe Ratugama Rallage Weris Singho. He was born on August 27, 1915 to Ratugama Rallage Dieris Appuhamy and Iso Hamy. Weris Singho was educated at the Talduwe Ihala school and in Dehiowita. He donned the yellow robes

on January 20, 1929 at the age of fourteen. Somarama was ordained in Kandy on June 25, 1936 at the age of twenty-one.

The premier of the nation was in the front verandah of his house meeting people who had come to see him. One batch of people was accommodated inside while others stood in line outside awaiting their turn to go in. Talduwe Somarama also waited patiently

in the queue for his turn and then was admitted in. There was a group of about 20 persons inside and a queue of around 40 outside.

Talduwe Somarama Thero

Talduwe Somarama Thero sat on a chair at one corner of the Verandah. He had placed a file and a handkerchief on a low stool by his side on his left. Seated on his right was another Buddhist monk from Polonnaruwa named Ananda Thero. The Polonnaruwa monk

accompanied by some farmers had come to see the Prime Minister on a matter concerning the appointment of a cooperative society manager. Ananda Thero was later to prove to be a key witness at the trial.

As each person’s name was announced he or she walked up to the Prime Minister, paid obeisance and articulated their woes and views. However when Somarama Thero stood up as his name was announced, Prime Minister Bandaranaike himself got up respectfully,

walked up to him and bowed reverentially as was the custom in greeting a Buddhist monk.

He then asked the monk what he could do for him. Somarama – who seemed tensed up according to Ananda Thero – told the PM that certain improvements were needed at the Ayurveda College. Bandaranaike then replied that he could get the Health Minister A.P.

Jayasuriya to attend to it if the venerable monk stated the requirements in writing and submitted it to him.

The time then was 9.45 am. Somarama Thero sat down and fumbled with the file on the stool by his side as if he was going to pull out a memorandum to be given to the Prime Minister. As the Prime Minister was getting ready to receive what he may have thought

were some papers, the Buddhist monk took out a pistol concealed in his robes and fired twice at point blank range hitting Bandaranaike in the chest and abdomen.The Prime minister made a loud sound like a gasp or moan and went down. He then got up slowly and

with great difficulty tried to stagger back inside the house.

When a shocked Ananda Thero got up from his chair, a thoroughly excited Somarama stood up and pointed his gun at the priest from Polonnaruwa. An agitated Ananda Thero shouted “Ammo” (mother). Somarama then turned around and followed Bandaranaike, shooting

at him wildly. He fired four more shots thus emptying the magazine. One bullet injured the Prime minister’s hand. Another hit a school teacher named Gunaratne who had also come to see the Prime minister on that morning. A third shot smashed the glass pane

on a door. The fourth struck a flower pot breaking it. Somarama Thero had used a .45 Webly Mark VI revolver to fire the six shots including the fatal ones.

Meanwhile there was pandemonium as the people on the verandah started scattering here and there in fear. Ananda Thero ran out and shouted to the policeman on duty at the gate that a monk was shooting at the prime minister. The Policeman who had already

started running towards the house upon hearing the shots came inside and fired at Somarama Thero injuring him in the thigh.

“Country, race and religion”

Realising what had happened, enraged people surrounded Somarama who was shouting excitedly that he had done so for the “country, race and religion”. After a scuffle in which Somarama was manhandled by the people, the monk was formally arrested. The furious

crowd may have mauled the monk but for the merciful intervention of Bandaranaike.

The bleeding Bandaranaike lying on the floor had urged the people not to harm the monk in any way. The apprehended monk was taken away by the police to the Harbour Police station amidst tight security. SWRD Bandaranaike was rushed to the General Hospital

at Borella and taken to the operating theatre .

Tragically, Bandaranaike never suspected any threat to his person and was unbelievably unconcerned about security. Given the levels of security available to VVIP’s today it is mind boggling to know that only a police sergeant was in charge of the Prime

Minister’s security then. Even the sergeant-in-charge was not on duty that morning. Only a constable had been at the gates.

When attempts were made by concerned police officials to provide Bandaranaike with a personal bodyguard, Bandaranaike had reluctantly agreed. A police sub-inspector was assigned. However Bandaranaike asked him to go back after a few days saying that a

sub-inspector should attend to more important duties and requested the IGP to assign a few police constables instead.

Unlike some politicians of the present era who regard the deployment of a large contingent of bodyguards as a symbol of their important status, Bandaranaike who thought of himself as a “popular peoples prime minister” felt a sense of embarrassment at being

protected by many policemen.

Parliament was in session at Galle Face when news of the assassination attempt reached the house. Education Minister Dr. W. Dahanayake who was to later succeed Bandaranaike as Prime minister later wanted Parliament to be adjourned but the majority of the

honourable members disagreed. Opposition leader Dr. N.M. Perera stated “there was no need to panic”. Several Ministers and MP’s from both the Government and opposition left the house and made a bee-line to Borella to see how the premier was faring.

Sir Oliver Goonetilleke

The Governor General of the time was Sir Oliver Goonetilleke. When news reached him of the shooting incident Sir Oliver was at “Queens House” swearing in the new Italian Ambassador Count Paolo di Michelis di Sloughhello. Sir Oliver stopped the ceremony

and rushed to Rosmead Place. Thereafter he sent a message to Parliament that it continue to function in a “business as usual”manner.

The Governor-General known and respected for his political wisdom and statesmanship took the initiative of declaring a state of emergency as a precautionary measure. It may be recalled that it was Sir Oliver who acted decisively and declared emergency

in May 1958 when anti –Tamil violence erupted in a situation where Prime Minister Bandaranaike vacillated.

A state of emergency was declared at 11 a.m. on September 25 by Governor-General Sir Oliver Goonetilleka and the Army, Navy and Air Force units including volunteers were mobilised and placed in readiness throughout the island. Later events demonstrated

that Sir Oliver’s anticipation of trouble and declaration of emergency was indeed commendable.

What happened was that Bandaranaike after surgery was admitted to the Merchants’ Ward. He issued a message to the nation from his hospital bed in the Merchants’ Ward. In the message the Prime Minister was extremely magnanimous towards the man who had shot

him. Instead of referring to him directly as a Buddhist priest, SWRDB described him “as a foolish man dressed in the robes of a monk”. The premier also called upon the government and authorities to “show compassion to this man and not try to wreak vengeance

on him”.

This well-intentioned magnanimity may have had unintended, dangerous consequences but for the prompt action of Sir Oliver Goonetilleke who had declared emergency before the statement was issued. Anticipating another round of 1958 type of violence the Governor-General

issued strict instructions to the police to be vigilant against any sign of violence erupting.

Given the prevailing political atmosphere of the time where anti-Tamil feelings were running high the immediate suspicion was that the assassin was a Tamil. News began spreading that the name of the man who shot the premier was “Somaraman”. A Tamilised

version of Somarama. So when Bandaranaike spoke of a “man dressed in the robes of a monk” rumours started to circulate that a Tamil had dressed up as a Buddhist priest and shot the Prime Minister.

Tamils in Colombo were very nervous then but thanks to the police being vigilant nothing untoward happened. Thanks to Sir Oliver the media was “advised” to reveal very clearly without delay that the assassin was not a Tamil. The anti-Tamil feelings began

subsiding. A replay of the 1958 anti-Tamil violence was averted at that point of time.

Surgery for five hours

Some of the top doctors in Colombo performed surgery on Bandaranaike for more than five long hours. Dr. M. V. P. Peries, Dr. P. R. Anthonis, Dr. L. O. Silva and Dr. Noel Bartholomeusz were the doctors in the operating theatre. Dr. L.O. Silva was quoted

by the media later as observing that “the first 24 hours after the operation was very crucial.”

Early signs after the surgery seemed rosy. The Prime Minister had recovered consciousness a few hours after the operation and was cheerful. He had joked with the doctors and nurses around his bedside. He had asked one of the nurses “How am I doing?” She

replied “You are doing fine, Sir”. “Yes I am an old man and have undergone a five hour stomach operation but I still have guts,” the PM had declared. He had also dictated a message to the nation from the hospital.

Things however took a turn for the worse in the early hours of the morning. Three senior doctors – Dr. P. R. Anthonis, Dr. T. D. H. Perera and Dr. M. J. A. Sandrasagara were on hand doing their best but there was no improvement. The fourth Prime Minister

of Independent Ceylon passed away on September 26, 1959 exactly twenty-two hours after he had been shot.

The official bulletin issued after his death stated as follows “The condition of the Prime Minister suddenly took a turn for the worse about 7 a.m. There was a sudden alteration of the action of the heart and his condition deteriorated very rapidly. He

passed off peacefully about 8 o’ clock.” It was signed by Dr. P. R. Anthonis, Dr. T. D. H. Perera and Dr. M. J. A. Sandrasagara.

Subsequently a verdict of homicide was recorded by the City Coroner J. N. C. Tiruchelvam, J. P. U. M. at the inquest. He said “death was due to shock and haemorrhage resulting from multiple injuries to the thoracic and abdominal organs.”

“Sanga, Veda and Guru”

The tripartite forces who campaigned effectively for Bandaranaike in 1956 were Buddhist priests, Ayurvedic medical practitioners and teachers. It was said that “Sanga, Veda and Guru” were responsible for installing Bandaranaike as Prime Minister. The bitter

irony was that Bandaranaike’s assassin was a “three-in-one” personality representing all three. Somarama was a Bhikku, an Ayurvedic doctor and a lecturer in the Ayurvedic College. The tripartite forces who brought SWRDB to power were now personified in the

man who killed him.

After Bandaranaike’s death, the Education Minister Wijayananda Dahanayake had been sworn in as Prime Minister. Detectives from Scotland Yard in Britain were brought down to assist the Ceylon Police in the investigations. The then DIG-CID, D.C.T. Pate,

SP Rajasooriya, S.S.I.K. Iyer ASP, IP Abeywardena, IP A.M. Seneviratne and IP Tyrell Goonetilleke were responsible for the intensive Police investigation.

November 26, 1959 saw seven persons being charged in the chief magistrate’s court of Colombo on a charge of conspiring to murder SWRD Bandaranaike. They were

Mapitigama Buddharakkitha Thero
Hemachandra Piyasena Jayawardena
Pallihakarage Anura de Silva
Talduwe Somarama Thero
Weerasooriya Arachchige Newton Perera
Vimala Wijewardene
Amerasinghe Arachchige Carolis Amerasinghe

In addition to this Somarama Thero the fourth accused was also charged with commitment of murder. Incidently Somarama Thero had confessed to committing the murder in his statements to the Police and to the chief magistrate. However he changed his position

at the Supreme court trial. “I did not shoot the Prime Minister. It is untrue that the 1st and 2nd accused or either of them requested me to do so. If I said so to the Magistrate, it is false. My statement to the Magistrate was not made of my own free will.

I am not guilty,” stated Somarama in the Supreme Court later.

Within a short time the seventh accused A.A.C. Amerasinghe (Kolonnawa urban councillor) received a conditional pardon in terms of section 283 of the Criminal procedure code and thereafter became a witness for the prosecution. Non-summary proceedings began

and after a long magisterial inquiry, the sixth accused Vimala Wijewardene was cleared of all charges of conspiracy and deemed innocent of any complicity. She was discharged on July 15, 1960. Vimala Wijewardene was the first woman cabinet minister of the country

and had served as Minister of Health in SWRD Bandaranaike’s Government.

The Magisterial Inquiry under Colombo Chief Magistrate N.A. de S. Wijesekara went on for 124 days with 193 witnesses testifying. The Chief Magistrate committed the first five accused to stand trial before Supreme Court on charges of conspiracy and murder.

Supreme Court Trial

The Supreme Court trial began against the five accused on February 22, 1961 before Justice T.S. Fernando QC OBE. The foreman of the seven member English speaking jury was D.W.L. Lieversz snr. Ninety-seven witnesses testified and were cross examined. The

Solicitor-General A.C. Alles along with deputy solicitor-general A.C.M. Ameer conducted the case on behalf of the prosecution with senior crown counsels R.S.Wanasundara and R.I. Obeyesekera assisting.

The third accused Anura de Silva was acquitted with the jury voting unanimously in his favour. The fifth accused Newton Perera was acquitted on a divided verdict with five voting in favour of the accused and two against. The trial concluded on May 12,

1961 after fifty-five days of hearing. The proceedings were well publicised and extensively reported in the media. Within five days the Jury returned its verdict.

he Jury found the first accused Buddharakkitha Thero, second accused H.P. Jayewardena and fourth accused Somarama Thero guilty by a unanimous verdict. Death sentence was pronounced on all three of them. All three faced death by hanging. During the trial

Somarama had stopped wearing the yellow robes when appearing in Courts.This led to Justice Fernando observing that Somarama “had a streak of conscience as he did not attend court in his saffron robes.”

All three convicted persons appealed against their death sentence to the then Court of Criminal Appeal. The five-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice Hema H. Basnayake comprised – Justices M.C. Sansoni, H.N.G. Fernando, N. Sinnetamby and L.B. de

Silva.

It was argued on behalf of Buddharakkitha and Jayewardena that the maximum punishment for the offence of conspiring to commit murder was rigorous imprisonment for life. E.G.Wickremanayake, QC, submitted that the Act which re-introduced the death penalty

for murder did not in specific terms re-introduce such penalty for conspiracy to commit murder.

The Criminal Appeal court concurred with the submission.The appeal of all three were dismissed but courts amended the sentences imposed on Buddharakkitha and Jayewardena from death to rigorous life imprisonment. Thus both of them were saved from the gallows

due to this legal loophole.

Hanged in Welikada

Talduwe Somarama Thero prepared himself to face death. He thanked in open court his counsel Lucian G. Weeramanthri who had appeared free for him “I thank my counsel who defended me at this trial like a true lion.” Weeks before his execution Somarama was

converted to Christianity and was baptised in his cell by an Anglican Priest. He was hanged in the Welikada gallows on July 6, 1962 at the age of 48. The hanging was undertaken by State executioner Lewis Singho and his assistant Subatheris Appu.