6:00 p.m.
TL;DR part 4:
July 24-->
Background:
By July 1983 tension was rising in the Jaffna Peninsula and throughout the country, the TULF had decided that their Members of Parliament resign their seats and on July 21, 1983 in Parliament, V.N. Navaratnam delivered an emotional farewell address.
July 23 was a quiet day in Jaffna, even though there were political activity in Mannar.
INT. Army Camp at Gurunagar -- DAY
That day (July 23) at the Army Camp at Gurunagar under the command of Brigadier J. G. Balthazar, the army was preparing an ambush for a LTTE leader Sellakili, who had been engaged in militant activities. It was to be carried out by a group of Commandos with the call sign Four Four Charlie, at Kondavil.
During this time Sellakili was planning on getting revenge for the death of Charles Lucas Anthony aka Seelan and had observed the army patrols.
EXT. Tinneveli on the Palali - Jaffna Road -- NIGHT
That night (July 23) a group of 25 LTTE men, including LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, Kittu, Iyer, Victor, Pulendran, Shellakili, Santhosam and Appiah gathered at Tinneveli on the Palali - Jaffna road at a point where the road was dug up to install new telecommunication equipment (supplied by CYB SPC hopefully).
Near one such excavation site, four explosive mines were placed and "a plunger" stolen from the Kankesanturai Cement Factory was placed on the balcony of a nearby house. Machine gun nests were placed near the exploder and across the road.
The LTTE force was split in two teams (c, d) and placed on both sides of the road with Sellakili present.
The Ambush:
After At 23 28 hours (July 24) the patrol reported that it was leaving Urumpirai junction and everything was quiet.
A Few Good Men
a1. Second Lieutenant A.P.N.C. De S. Vaas Gunawardene - Patrol Commander - KIA
b2. Sergeant S.I. Thelakaratne - Patrol Second-in-Command - KIA
b3. Corporal G.R. Perera - KIA
c4. Corporal R.A.U. Perera - WIA (KIA*)
c5. Lance Corporal Sumathipala - WIA (KIA*)
a6. Lance Corporal G.D. Perera - KIA
b7. Private A.J.R. Fernando - KIA
c8. Private M.B. Sunil - KIA
c9. Private D.N.A.D. Manapitiya - KIA
c10. Private G. Robert - KIA
c11. Private A.J. Wijesiri - KIA
a12. Private N.A.S. Manutange - KIA
a13. Private S.S. Amarasinghe - KIA
a14. Private S.P.G. Rajatillake - KIA
a15. Private K.P. Karunaratne - KIA
The patrol was made up of:
(a) a jeep with 2nd Lt. Vaas Gunawardene (1), Private N.A.S. Manutange (12) driving and Corporal G.D. Perera (6) and Private S.S. Amarasinghe (13), Private S.P.G. Rajatillake (14) and Private K.P. Karunaratne (15) in the rear; and a
(b) Tata Benz half truck with the rest of the patrol with Sergent S.I. Thelakaratne (2) in the front seat with Corporal G.R. Perera (3) at the wheel and Private A.J.R. Fernando (7) between them.
I'm not sure about the location of troops: c4. R.A.U. Perera (no pun intended), c5. Sumathipala, c8. M.B. Sunil, c9. D.N.A.D. Manapitiya, c10. G. Robert and c11. A.J. Wijesiri.
