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Another callous killing, another shattered family
By Pushpakumara Jayaratna
Regardless of the ceasefire agreement between the Government and the LTTE, reportedly the LTTE is on a killing spree of its opponents. Kalmunai Police sergeant Liyanapatabendi Jayaratne who was killed while on his way to the canteen to fetch bread for his dinner is the latest victim of the terror.

Two alleged Tiger cadres riding a motorcycle shot sergeant Jayaratne on August 20 at about 9.45 pm, making it the second killing of a policeman and the first in the North-East in recent times.

Sergeant Jayaratne is the eldest of a family of 8 sons and a daughter and would have ended up as a medical student if he had only got 6 more marks at the GCE Advanced Level Examination. He joined the Police force in 1985 and his first appointment was at Inginiyagala in Ampara. After serving at a number of distant stations he was assigned to the Telecom Police post in Colombo on a short stint.

While serving at Payagala Police station Jayaratne met his wife Mala Nandanie (41). Later they made their home at Inginiyagala and lived with their only child 8-year-old Sajith. In June he was temporarily assigned to Kalmunai from where he came home once or twice a week.

On August 18, he made his last visit to see his wife. It was fate that ended his life when in a matter of a fortnight he was to have returned to his hometown at the end of his temporary assignment at Kalmunai.

His brother L.P. Tillekeratne attached to the Information Department at Kurunegala said they came to know Jayaratne was attached to the Intelligence Unit of the Police only from the media after Jayaratne's death.

Jayaratne accompanied by another policeman had gone out to buy bread for the Police mess when the shooting took place by two gunmen allegedly from the LTTE's pistol gang who had followed them.

The victim was taken to the nearest Ampara Base Hospital, where the doctor on duty had been absent. Jayaratne was then driven to the Batticaloa Hospital some fifty miles away. But the victim had succumbed to his injuries before admission.

The dreams of his young wife and only child have been shattered by this untimely death. She strongly believes it was a case of mistaken identity as her husband had always said he was safe in Kalmunai. He had hoped to move his son to a better school in his native Polgahawela after the Grade Five Scholarship Exam. The deceased was accorded a funeral with full military honours.

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