Major General Kamal Gunaratne to be made a sacrificial lamb
Monday, 08 April 2013 
There are doubts of a conspiracy to frame Major General Kamal Gunaratne, who commanded the 53rd Brigade and the 8th Task Force during the Wanni operation, for the release of some pictures that could be used to prove allegations of war crimes committed during the final stages of the war, sources from the Army said. Most of the pictures that have reached the international media are reportedly of killings carried out by the units commanded by Major General Gunaratne and according to army sources the latest conspiracy could be aimed at preventing him from becoming the Army Commander in future.
The photographs taken during the war that have been publicized by Channel 4, JDS organization and the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) are of incidents that had taken place under the 53rd Brigade and the 8th Task Force. Among these materials are the video of the assassination LTTE cadres who had surrendered in Puthukuduirippu on 2009.04.06, the video of the assassination of LTTE cadres captured in the Nandikadal area on 2009.05.17 and Balachandran’s murder on 2009.05.19.
Apart from this video graphic material, the other mater that has been released is of a video and pictures of Eastern Tiger leader Ramesh held captive by the military on 2009.05.17. According to the video and photographic evidence, army commander personnel are surrounding Ramesh and it was Colonel Ralph Nugera who commanded the Army Commando unit at the time.
“Assassinating Colonel Ramesh was not the only war crime committed by the Commando soldiers during the Wanni operation. However, it was first then Brigadier Chagi Gallage and later Brigadier Shavendra Silva who commanded these units.
It was the 58th Brigade commanded by Shavedra Silva that also committed was crimes at the time. Nevertheless, evidence on these incidents has not yet surfaced. Therefore, it is clear that these videos and photographs have been released to put Major General Kamal Gunaratne in difficulty,” a senior army officer said.
“Not only media personnel, but even some army personnel were not permitted to enter certain areas during the Wanni operation. However, senior officers had the freedom to travel to any area during the operation. One commanding officer took with him in his vehicle a television journalist from the Rupavahini to every area in the battle field. This journalist had several cameras. The suspicion is why the journalist used cameras other than the one with the Rupavahini logo to film scenes on the battlefield.”
The senior army officer who spoke to us made this revelation. Major General Kamal Gunaratne is well known as a silent military officer who had the complete trust of the Defence Secretary. He does not have a close rapport with the media as well. Therefore, Major General Gunaratne is believed to be the Defence Secretary’s first choice to hold the post of Army Commander in future.
