Major General Kamal Gunaratne had murdered Balachandran on Gotabhaya’s order
Thursday, 14 June 2012
LTTE Leader
Velupillai Prabhakaran’s 14 year old son Balachnadran Prabhakaran had been
killed after surrendering to the army on a direct order of Defence Secretary
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
Lanka News Web learns that Balachandran had been killed
under the supervision of the Commander of the 53rd Brigade Brigadier Kamal
Gunaratne.
Balachandran had surrendered to the army near the
Nadikadal Lagoon at 7.30 a.m. on May 19, 2009. He had surrendered to a group of
eight soldiers led Sergeant Mutubanda from the 4th Vijayaba Infantry
Regiment.
Balachandran had said his father, Velupillai
Prabhakaran had been shot dead the previous night and that his body was hidden
in a shrub near the Nandikadal Lagoon. Mutubanda had then informed the detail to
Lieutenant Nalaka from the C Group of the 4th Vijayaba Infantry
Regiment.
Nalaka together with another officer named Kirinda and
Sergeant Wijesinghe were engaged in a search operation in the Nandikadal Lagoon
at the time.
Nalaka had informed the Commanding Officer of the 4th
Vijayaba Infantry Regiment Lieutenant Colonel Rohitha Aluvihare that a boy
claiming to be Prabhakaran’s son along with two security personnel had
surrendered to the army. He had then informed the head of the 53rd Brigade,
Brigadier Kamal Gunaratne about the matter through head of the 681 platoon,
Lieutenant Colonel Lalntha Gamage.
Following orders, Brigadier Gunaratne together with
Lieutenant Nalaka and Balachnadran had gone to the shrub in the Nandikadal
Lagoon and shown Prabhakaran’s body to the army.
Gunaratne had then personally interrogated
Balachandran.
During the interrogation Balachandran had said his
father was killed the previous night when he was caught in the crossfire between
the LTTE and security forces.
He had said that his father’s body was hidden and two
of his security personnel who had survived the battle the previous night had
then surrendered to the army with him.
Balachandran had said that he was with his father in
one boat trying to escape the gunfire while his mother and sister were in
another. However, he had said his father was shot during the battle and that he
was unaware of what had become of his mother and sister.
Balachandran had also revealed that his father and his
few remaining security personnel had fought back, but excluding two members of
the security detail, everyone had been killed in the gun battle.
Gunaratne had informed all the details he had learnt
from Balachandran to the Defence Secretary on his mobile phone. The Defence
Secretary had informed all the details to Karuna Amman.
Karuna Amman had told the Defence Secretary that
Balachandran should be killed since there was a possibility that he would become
the next LTTE leader if he survived and because he would be released from courts
since he was under age.
The Defence Secretary had then ordered Gunaratne to
personally supervise Balachandran’s killing and to destroy his
body.
These details have been revealed by an army officer to
a foreign government since he is now being accused over the telecast of footage
of Balachandran’s murder in a Channel 4 film. The army officer had said that he
did not want to be held accountable for sins committed by
others.
Military Spokesperson was nowhere near the war – senior army officers
Thursday, 21 February 2013
Senior army officers who were actively involved in the forces during the war say that Military Spokesperson Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya, who claims that the report that LTTE Leader Prabhakaran’s 12 year old son Balachandran was killed by the army was aimed at tarnishing the image of the military, was nowhere near the operation areas during the final stages of the war. They observed that it was the likes of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Deputy Minister Karuna Amman, Major General Kamal Gunaratne, Colonel Lalantha Gamage, Colonel Rohitha Aluvihare, Sergeant Mutubanda and Sergeant Kirinde who were privy to what exactly happened during the final stages of the war. The senior army officers say that the army should hold a legal investigation into the incident and punish the wrong doers in order to save the good name of the army.
These army officers revealed to us how the 12 year old Balachandran Prabhakaran surrendered to the army, the place where he surrendered and the time of his killing.
We published a detailed account of the incident on June 14, 2012. (Major General Kamal Gunaratne had murdered Balachandran on Gotabhaya’s order )
These army officers say that while 99% of the army personnel acted according to the military laws, a few senior army officers amounting to around 1% of the entire force had worked in connivance with the Defence Secretary and committed war crimes. They claim that the world has heard only a few war crimes that had taken place in the country.
They note that apart from the claim that the army did not have any information of the whereabouts of Prabhakaran’s wife, Madhivadhini and daughter Dvarakha, the rest of the statements made about the incident even by former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka are false.
According to the senior army officers, while Fonseka was not responsible for the war crimes committed during the war, the reason for his protection of the personnel who carried out such crimes is unfathomable.
