More on the Wellawaya Attack 1971 – capture of the first two Insurgents

by Lalin Fernando, Major General (Rtd)

Retired Artillery Captain FRAB Musafer’s two articles titled ‘Gunner Platoon at Wirawila appeared on Apr. 4, 2021 (50 years after the JVP attack on the Wellawaya Police station). It was repeated in the Sunday Island in two parts this month and is continuing.

It is a very interesting account of an Artillery ‘platoon’ (it is normally called a troop but was called platoon as it was on Internal Security duties with small arms not guns). It deployed at Wirawila in the Hambantota District in anticipation of trouble from the JVP in 1971.The captain and his gunners were the first to arrive at Wellawaya after the police station was attacked on the morning of April 5 .

I was the Officer Commanding Wellawaya/Monaragala from April 5, 1971. Fortunately the first of about four articles I wrote starting in 2007 (Island and Asian Tribune- now defunct)) was still available to recheck the accuracy of the events on that fateful day (5th not 4^th April as given by Capt Musafer)

Two platoons of my company (Bravo) of the Gemunu Watch deployed to Wellawaya from Diyatalawa after news of the attack was known. Lt Gibbrey Muthalib (later Major General) commanded one platoon which was dispatched to Monaragala where another policeman, unprepared as usual had been killed at a casual vehicle check. I commanded the other platoon due to the non availability of its officer.

Normally during operations it is one up in command (higher) if required not one down (lower).But this was the SL (Ceylon) Army in 1971. It was totally unprepared for operations as it denied the JVP was a threat until the Nelundeniya bomb explosion. It was also very short of ammo. But who cared?

When I arrived at Wellawaya there was literally not a dog in sight so much so that we missed the right turn off to the police station at first and had to turn back. There was utter silence when we arrived at the police station. I saw Gunner troops in a truck parked on the roadway. I got down from my jeep and walked up to the police station where I met Major (later Major General) Gratian Silva from AHQ (Operations) who had flown in with DIG Rudra Rajasingham in a SLAF helicopter that had landed in the hospital premises next door.

Major Silva told me that the police station had been attacked in the morning and two policemen had been killed while the attacking JVP cadres had fled leaving two dead. Late Constable Gunesekera’s wife was a nurse in the Wellawaya hospital which was opposite the police station being reminded at work daily of the tragedy she had to live with.

OiC Jayasekera said about 500 insurgents took part in the attack. Pellets marks from shot guns were all over the decrepit station building and his tin hut residence where his wife had a fearsome experience as the insurgent leader fired waist level into it. The about 20 -30 policemen were utterly demoralized, angry and hysterical.

My platoon dismounted and took up defensive positions in the front and flanks immediately. I went with my runner six-foot tall Wickramage (Army rugby XV No 8) to the rear where there was a damaged barbed wire fence behind the police kitchen. I climbed over it and to my utter surprise I saw two young boys (ages about 12-14) lying on the ground by the bund (niyara) of the paddy field in front.

Thinking they were inquisitive village lads who had come to watch what was happening inside the police station, I told them to scram. They did not move. I then repeated myself but more loudly. They remained transfixed. Some others came up to see what the problem was. It dawned on me that something was wrong and drew my .38 Webley revolver and for the first time aimed it at humans and not a target on the firing range, fearing I may have to use it.

I called out ‘yakko nagitipan’.(devils get up) They started getting up reluctantly when I noticed policeman Amugoda ( from Ambalangoda -my village- as I got to know later), climbing over the fence . He misjudged the height of the fence, tripped and fell into the paddy field tearing ligaments in one knee but it did not stop him from attempting to kick the two boys with his other foot.

I saw not two policemen as given by Capt Musafer but an artillery soldier (gunner), who had not shown any interest before, going for the small boys with his rifle butt. I yelled at them to stop which they did. The boys, probably feeling safe, then got up. They admitted to me that they had come with the attackers but when they saw what had happened to their two dead colleagues and another shot through his cheeks , (he surrendered later) had tried to run away with the rest.

However since they were in a wide open space, they decided to lie down by the ‘niyara’ and wait until sunset to escape. They also said only 25, not 500 as given by the police, took part in the attack. The latter figure had already been passed on to Colombo adding more panic to a government and country already in panic.

I called platoon Sergeant DR Punchi Banda (his daughter was Colombo magistrate some years ago while a brother had been a Buddhist priest and was arrested later for being a JVP supporter and then released when I communicated with the relevant police station). I asked him to take over the two boys and give them a good ducking at the well in the premises.

We did this in Diyatalawa to ‘prisoners’ on Field Tactical Exercises (FTX). The water there is very cold. Here it was a relief for the two as they had been out in the sun the whole day. Apparently they had asked for soap too! We were in an army jocularly called ‘kapalla bipalla’ (make merry-eat and drink) mood as indeed was the mood of many in the country.

I asked the Sergeant to give each boy a sheet of paper, separate them and ask them to jot down the names of the attackers. I left on a clearing patrol in the village close by. I need not have bothered. There were no people or signs of life of any sort. (dogs, cats, chickens or cattle). The rude houses were closed.

Back at the police station again Sergeant Punchi Banda gave me the two lists. The names were identical. The boys were put into a cell and given dinner. The police were told not to touch them. They did not. They were sent off to the Badulla prison the next day, Capt Musafer would be glad to know.

Curiously just as much as Capt Musafer claimed otherwise, Badulla Magistrate or was it District Judge, Douglas Wijeratne too claimed to a gullible Capt Gerry de Silva much later, that it was he who spotted/’arrested’ the two boys. I did not know Mr.Wijeratne had been at the police station that day until Capt ( later General) de Silva who was later at Monaragala with Capt Daya Wijesekera vice Lt Muthalib who was seriously wounded in the head published his ’memoires’

However Capt Musafer did not explain what his gunners and Mr Wijeratne District Judge had been doing from morning until the Gemunu Watch troops arrived in the afternoon and waited patiently until I decided to find out how the attack was actually carried out and found these two utterly jittery lads. The fence was about two feet or less behind the police station.

So much for military history. One incident, three versions and still going strong. After over 50 years. This is my last on the 1971 Wellawaya attack. I hope and pray there will be no more Wellawaya attacks in this land that from 1971 to 2009, suffered over 160,000 killed fighting JVP terrorists in the South (who were intent on laying waste the country and brutally killing as many defenceless Sinhalese as possible, and in the North where the LTTE fought with incredible bravery but viciously and passionately until they were completely vanquished. Not forgetting the over 30,000 killed in the Tsunami that struck on 26 Dec 2004 .