Another botched attack on Minister Devananda's life
The proverb that a cat that has nine lives is commonly used to
describe a situation where someone had withstood and survived life
threatening situations most of the time and emerged victorious and
unscathed against all odds. The proverb aptly fits the Social Services
and Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda, who is also the Secretary
General of the EPDP. He had withstood several assassination attempts by
the LTTE in the past. However, the violence unleashed by the LTTE on
Devananda has not ebbed despite unsuccessful attempts.
Last week another botched attack was reported from Vavuniya where a
claymore bomb weighing around 10 kilos was discovered in the EPDP office
at Vavuniya. The claymore bomb concealed in a briefcase was spotted by
minor employees around 8.30.a.m. who turned up that day to clean the
office premises. The briefcase was found in the TV room where persons
usually gather to watch TV programs. The discovery made in the nick of
time saved the lives of several persons before it exploded. When
Minister of Social Service and Social Welfare, Douglas Devananda was
contacted he told the "Sunday Observer" that he planned to visit his
Vavuniya office that day in the morning. The claymore bomb was
programmed to explode in the morning, he said.
The Minister admitted that the LTTE had made several unsuccessful
attempts in the past to get at him and this was the latest incident.
The
police and the army, who rushed to the EPDP office following the
discovery of the claymore bomb, managed to defuse the bomb on time. It
was revealed subsequently that two LTTE cadres had planted the bomb in
the office. The two LTTE cadres, who infiltrated the EPDP office, were
responsible for planting the claymore bomb, EPDP said. They had
meticulously planned the attack by leaving the briefcase in the TV room
and had left three days ago before it was detected. The Vavuniya police
are now on the lookout for the two suspects who vanished from the EPDP
office. According to Police sources, a number of LTTE cadres had
infiltrated the EPDP and PLOTE organisations in recent years. They
become sleeper cells and lie dormant in a organisation for some time
until they are activated to carry out a terrorist act.
Going by the records, Minister Devananda has survived around 11
assassination attempts staged by the LTTE. But the most virulent attack
on him was on July 1998 when he visited the Kalutara prison to inquire
into the demands of LTTE prisoners who were on a hunger fast. The
detainees sprang upon him and attacked him with a knife and with poles.
He was seriously injured and was hospitalised following the brutal
attack. In November 2007, a LTTE woman suicide bomber went to his
Ministry to meet him. The Public Relations Officer, Stephen who was busy
registering the names of the visitors that morning became suspicious on
seeing the woman. When the woman reached Stephen he became more nervous
and got the help of minister's bodyguards to search her. When a
policewoman began a body search on her she detonated the bomb strapped
to her body. The Public Relations Officer Stephen who was injured later
succumbed to his injuries. The two security officers present on the
occasion were seriously injured. The incident happened on a day when the
minister was scheduled to meet people to discuss their grievances.
The LTTE attempts to assassinate Minister Devananda goes back to 1995
when he lived at a house at Park Road, Colombo 5. A group of LTTE
attackers stormed his compound and lobbed grenades at his security men
on duty prior to entering his home. The minister made a daring escape
from his home by switching off the lights so as to confuse the intruders
and then leaping from his balcony. Thereafter he hid in a nearby
playground and saved his life.
A couple of years ago a woman who called over at his office at
Kollupitiya wanted to meet the minister personally regarding an official
matter. But the security men on duty became suspicious about the way she
conducted herself and prevented her from entering the minister's
chambers. After realising that she could not meet the minister, the
woman left his office hurriedly and walked towards the direction of the
Galle Face.
Meanwhile the security men tipped off the Kollupitiya Police about
the suspicious looking woman heading on foot the Galle Face Green. A
policeman from the Kollupitiya Police Station followed her and brought
back to the Kollupitiya Police Station to be questioned.
The highly agitated woman suicide bomber with explosives strapped on
to her body blew herself up killing a Police Inspector and a Policeman
on duty at the police station. What would have been the fate had the
suicide cadre blown herself up seeing the minister?
The coterie of his faithful omnipresent security men once again saved
his life by exercising diligence. A man of steel nerves,
MinisterDevananda is unfazed by such attacks and carries on with his
official duties without fear.
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