The Dehiwala train bombing was a terrorist attack carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the rush hour on July 24, 1996 evening. The Dehiwala train bombing resulted in 64 civilian deaths and wounding 400 others. The attack was carried out by LTTE operatives placing suitcase bombs in four carriages on a commuter train. The simultaneous explosion of these bombs resulted in a large number of casualties. The technique of simultaneously exploding multiple bombs in several carriages was used for the first time in Sri Lanka by the LTTE in this attack.
“I was at home when I heard the explosion. When I came out, I saw injured people on the ground struggling with fractured hands and legs. So, we rushed them to the hospital using a bus and private vehicles. Fractured body parts scattered all over the place,” said a witness.
Journalist Sudeepa left forever
This is the 24th death anniversary of the late Sudeepa Purnajith, an artist and a cartoonist who was attached to the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL/Lake House) at the time of his demise. He was an excellent cartoonist worked for many newspapers published by the ANCL. By that time, his caricatures and cartoons were popular among readers. Sudeepa was also a stamp designer. Though there were many other popular names in stamp-designing at the time, Sudeepa’s name held a special recognition as he was one of the youngest stamp designers and for his age, he had designed one of the largest collection of stamps. He had studied cartoons and caricatures in Czechoslovakia in 1993 and Germany in 1994.
On the evening of July 24, 1996, Sudeepa left Lake House and walked towards the Fort Railway Station to catch a train to go to Panadura where he lived. He had two options - an express train or a slow train. Although it was considerably crowded, Sudeepa opted for the latter for the reason that it stopped at Mount Lavinia Station. Sudeepa’s fiance worked at a private office in Mount Lavinia. So, he wished to finish the latter half of his train trip with the love of his life. But, he never got to see her on that dark day dominated by the LTTE terrorists.
Before the train left from Fort, an off-duty War Hero who was at the station at that time noticed a suspicious large parcel which was later identified as a bomb. The Bomb Disposal Unit was called immediately and it was defused successfully. Thinking the threat is now over, the railway authorities decided to run the train on schedule. But the LTTE terrorists had a Plan B as well. As the train pulled out from the Dehiwala Station, multiple bombs placed in different compartments went off killing many passengers. Sudeepa was among them.
On June 4, 2008, a bomb exploded on the same rail line between Dehiwala and Wellawatte railway stations when it was hit by a packed commuter train at 7.10 am, injuring at least 24 civilians.
The Dehiwala train bombing is just one of the brutal bomb attack series launched against innocent civilians by the LTTE. The Central Bus Stand bombing in Colombo on April 21, 1987, killed 113 civilians while the Central Bank bombing in Colombo on January 31, 1996, killed 91 civilians. The world-famous Kebithigollewa bus bombing on June 15, 2006, killed 66 civilians while the Lion Air flight bombing took place on September 29, 1998, killing 55 civilians. On May 14, 1985, the LTTE killed 114 innocent civilians who were at Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, Anuradhapura and massacred another 127 inside a bus at Habarana on April 17, 1987. Digampathana bombing occurred on October 16, 2006, killing 103 innocent civilians. Another 147 innocent civilians were killed at Kattankudy Mosque on August 3, 1990. The LTTE also massacred 207 prisoners in the Mullaitivu camp on July 18, 1996. On June 11, 1990, the LTTE killed 670 police officers at once in Batticaloa. There were infants, children, pregnant women, the elderly, the sick and disabled people and many more innocent civilians were killed by the barbaric LTTE.
Current President and the then Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the current Prime Minister and the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave leadership to our heroic Armed Forces to defeat LTTE terrorism and save our Motherland. Every effort was made from 2015 to 2019 in order to strengthen all types of terrorists and extremists in Sri Lanka. This tiny island was saved again on November 16 last year. It is the responsibility of each and every Sri Lankan citizen to remember our history.
Do not leave room to repeat the dark parts of our history dominated by the LTTE and all other extremists backed by some Governments. We have to tell our children about the dark era we passed and educate them about our proud history which was about to be erased at the hands of terrorists and extremists. We need to save Sri Lanka for our future generation.
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