Relatives commemorates victims of Thambalagamam massacre

A relative of victims takes part in a religious ceremony in the memory of massacred relatives 27 years ago. Pix: Northeastern Monitor 



The 27th-anniversary commemoration of the Thambalagaman massacre in Trincomalee was held this morning at the memorial monument erected in Thambalagamam by relatives and the local community.


On this occasion, floral tributes were paid to the memorial erected in the memory of victims and prayers were also conducted by relatives.


During the massacre that took place on 01.02.1998 in Bharathipuram village of Thampalagamam area, 8 people including Arumugam Shekhar (age 32), Amirthalingam Surendran (age 13), Amirthalingam Gajendran (age 17), Ponnambalam Kanakasabai (age 47), Murugesu Janagan (age 18), Nathan Pavalanathan (age 29), Subramaniam Divakaran (age 23), Gunarathnam Sivarajan (age 23) were murdered by police personnel. 


A court case was filed in the Trincomalee High Court regarding these murders. Accordingly, action was initially taken against 13 police officers. Later, the case was transferred to the Anuradhapura High Court where 37 charges were filed against five people. 


The verdict in this case was delivered on 26 April last year, 26 years after the crime was committed by North Central Province Predecessor High Court Judge Manoj Thalgodapitiya.


During this period, the officer-in-charge of the Bharathipuram Police Station under the Kandalaya Police Division, a Deputy Inspector of Police and 3 other police officers were sentenced to death. It was in this context that the 27th anniversary commemoration of the massacre was held yesterday. (Northeastern Monitor/ February 1/2025) 








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