Denzil Kobbekaduwa

"Operation Liberation", also known as the "Vadamarachchi Operation", was launched after months of planning on 26 May 1987. Brigadier Kobbekaduwa commanded the operation on the ground as the Brigade Commander of the 3 brigade group formed comprising two infantry brigades with supporting armored, artillery and air units of the Sri Lanka Air Force numbering 8000 personal. It was the largest formation deployed by the Sri Lankan Army at that point and the first conventional battle to take place in the civil war. The objective was to take the territory of Vadamarachchi in the Jaffna peninsula from LTTE (Tamil Tiger) control. LTTE forces destroyed the bridge at Thondaimanaru to slow army progress towards Valvettithurai, the town of LTTE leader Prabhakaran's birth. On 28 May, army troops captured Udupiddy, Valvettithurai and Nelliady. By the end of the first week of June, the army had gained control over the entire zone and captured a large cache of arms left by the LTTE.[10]

President J.R. Jayewardene and Minister of National Security Lalith Athulathmudali had political responsibility for the operation and terminated it following Operation Poomalai, the Indian air force's show of strength, in which it dropped supplies over Jaffna for the besieged Tamil Tigers on 4 June 1987, leading to the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord.

At this point, Major General Kobbekaduwa proposed an amphibious assault launched code named Operation Balavegaya. Launching an amphibious assault for the first time in Sri Lankan military history, plans for Operation Balavegaya were drawn up at Joint Operations headquarters in Colombo. 8,000 troops were deployed for the rescue mission to relieve the besieged camp and regain territory captured by the LTTE. This was an amphibious operation using landing craft and helicopters to transport the soldiers.

During the operation the intensity of LTTE resistance led some battalion commanders to consider aborting the operation temporarily, however, General Kobbekaduwa and Brigadier Vijaya Wimalaratne decided it should proceed to join the troops at the front lines. On 14 July 1991 the task-force established a beachhead at (Vettilaikkerni). After several days of fighting the relief force was able to reach and linkup with the besieged garrison and by 19 August the LTTE militants withdrew. During the month-long battle which was the longest yet in the war, 573 LTTE carders and 202 military personnel had been killed. In the end of August, General Kobbekaduwa launched "Operation Lightning" in the Weli-oya sector to divert pressure on Elephant Pass. Several LTTE camps were destroyed while other operations disrupted LTTE supply lines in the area where the Mannar coast was linked to the Wanni jungle base.[12]

In July 1992, General Kobbekaduwa returned to Colombo for his father's funeral. This was when he was preparing for a new offensive to capture the Jaffna peninsula which was under LTTE control, it was code named "Operation Final Count Down". On 2 August 1992 he was back in Colombo and met with President Ranasinghe Premadasa. He returned to his HQ in Palaly the next day. Since the launching pad for the offensive was the island of Kayts on 7 August, General Kobbekaduwa moved to Karainagar naval base by helicopter with his staff. He spent much of the night planning the upcoming offensive with Brigadier Vijaya Wimalaratne, Jaffna Brigade Commander and Commodore Mohan Jayamaha. Due to concerns of the navy about the staging area, it was decided to visit the Araly point the next day.

Lieutenant General Denzil Kobbekaduwa Memorial at Araly Point

On 8 August 1992 at 8.00 am the group made up of Maj. General Kobbekaduwa, Brigadier Wimalaratne and Commodore Jayamaha along with several other officers headed out on a naval patrol boat towards Jaffna and returned to Kayts pier. On returning the party was met by three Land Rovers, the General, the Brigadier and the Commodore got into the Land Rover UHA 8752 with the rest of the army personnel taking vehicle no UHA 8785 and the naval personnel taking 5959. From there they set out to Araly Point. Half way the general order that they all use one vehicle as to not to attract fire from LTTE units in the Jaffna peninsula which was only one-half kilometer away. They reached Araly Point and had a discussion and headed back when the Land Rover was consumed by an explosion. Major Rupasinghe and Major Induruwa who were 400 yards away from the incident ran to the location to find only General Kobbekaduwa and Commodore Jayamaha alive. Killed in the explosion was Brigadier Wimalaratne, Lt. Colonels G.H. Ariyaratne, A. Palipahana, H.R. Stephen, all three battalion commanders, Lieutenant Commander Asanga Lankathilaka, Lieutenant Commander C.B Wijepura, Major Nalin S. De Alwis; the General's Aide-de-camp and Corporal Jagath Wickramaratna. The two wounded officers were rushed to the helicopter waiting to transport the group to base, which took them to the military hospital in Plalay where Commodore Jayamaha was found dead on arrival. General Kobbekaduwa who was awake was then transferred to the Colombo General Hospital for surgery via helicopter. Where a specialist team of surgeons were unable to save his life.[13] It has been claimed by Jane's Information Group that the assassination was by the LTTE.[14]

On the day of his military funeral, a crowd numbering about 100,000 persons descended on the Colombo general cemetery, chanting anti-government slogans and throwing stones at government ministers. At least fifteen people were injured, including two ministers, deputy Foreign Minister John Amaratunga and deputy Information Minister A.J. Ranasinghe. According to witnesses, the crowd was angry because the general was not given a state funeral. Police in riot gear responded by firing shots and tear-gas into the air to disperse the crowd.[15]

Lalini Kobbekaduwa, the General Kobbekaduwa's widow, called for an international commission into the incident.[16] This was not granted, but the Sri Lankan Government set up their own commission to investigate. President Premadasa appointed a one man commission comprising Justice Ameer Ismail. Additional Solicitor General Upawansa Yapa was later appointed to assist. Following her election to office, President Chandrika Kumaratunga, appointed a Presidential Commission of Inquiry, made up of Tissa Dias Bandaranayake (Chair), Justice D. P. S. Gunasekera and Gamini Ameratunga, High Court Judge. Tissa Dias Bandaranayake was a close relative of the president. A witness, Rohini Hathurusinghe gave evidence that Major General Vijaya Wimalaratne and Major General Ananda Weerasekara conspired to kill Kobbekaduwa with a bomb planted in his jeep, which caused a major national scandal. A report from the Criminal Investigation Department found Hathurusinghe's evidence could not be corroborated, yet Bandaranayake allowed her testimony. Justice Gunasekera and Ameratunga resigned from the commission. Televised, the commissioned became a media sensation and a statue of Wimalaratne was destroyed by a mob. Hathurusinghe changed her story and accused the Chairmen of the commission of getting her to falsely accuse the army officers.[17] Although the validity of Hathurusinghe's evidence was questioned,[18] the Presidential Commission speculated that then President Ranasinghe Premadasa, as well as members of the Sri Lankan Army such as Major W A N M Weerasinghe, were "directly responsible" for his death. The Asia Times commented that "a second and last Presidential Commission came up with highly speculative conclusions."[19]