From the Archives (April 16, 1971): Plot to assassinate Ceylon P.M.

April 16, 2021 12:15 am | Updated 12:15 am IST

Colombo, April 15: There had been an insurgent plot to assassinate the Ceylonese Prime Minister, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, on the night of April 5 and to blow up her Colombo residence. Interviewed by the Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation, two captured terrorists hailing from Enderamulla, 30 km north of the capital, gave details of the abortive plot. The 20-year-old insurgents who had undergone five courses in guerrilla warfare were asked to be present near Rosemead Place (residence of the Prime Minister) in Colombo around 23-00 hours local on April 5. They were told that 50 terrorists armed with handbombs and other lethal weapons would be present there around that time and they should join them in an attack on Mrs. Bandaranaike’s residence and kidnap her in a jeep failing which should assassinate her and carry away her body. The two terrorists working in a Colombo commercial establishment returned disappointed on finding none near the Rosemead Place.

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