S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), was assassinated by the Buddhist priest Talduwe Somarama Thero on September 25, 1959, while meeting the public at his private residence, Tintagel, at Rosmead Place in Colombo. Shot in the chest, abdomen and hand, Bandaranaike died the following day at Merchant's Ward of the Colombo General Hospital. He was the first Sri Lankan national leader to be assassinated, which led to his widow Sirimavo Bandaranaike (Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike) becoming the world's first female prime minister.
Assassination
Background
Bandaranaike became prime minister after winning the 1956 elections in a landslide, at the head of a four-party coalition with a no-contest pact with the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and the Communist Party of Sri Lanka known as the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) (the Peoples' United Front) which gained a two-thirds majority in parliament on a wave of strong nationalist sentiment.
After becoming prime minister, Bandaranaike was officially moved to the Prime minister's official residence, Temple Trees. However, he also divided his time between his country seat at Horagolla and his town house, Tintagel, at Rosmead Place in Colombo. On the morning of September 25, 1959 he was at Tintagel and receiving the public to hear their requests and complaints. The Prime Minister had been assigned a Police Sub Inspector (SI) for his personal protection. However, Bandaranaike had sent him back on the grounds that he should attend to more important duties, and requested the Inspector General of Police to assign a few police constables instead. On the morning of September 25 only one armed police constable was on duty at the gates of Tintagel, while the sergeant in charge was not on duty.
The assassination
Shooting at Rosmead Place
Bandaranaike was seated on the front verandah, meeting the public who had come to see him. There were about 20 persons inside the verandah and another 40 queued outside. Around 9 AM a Buddhist priest, Talduwe Somarama Thero, who had been waiting to see the prime minister, took a seat in a chair in the verandah and kept a file on a short stool next to his chair. He was a lecturer at the Government College of Ayurveda and had stated that he wanted to meet the prime minister to discuss requirements for the Ayurveda college.
When Somarama Thero was announced, he stood up and approached the prime minister, who in turn also stood and came forward, showing respect to the priest in the customary form. The prime minister asked what he could do for Somarama Thero, who told the prime minister that certain improvements were needed at the Ayurveda College. The prime minister responded that he would get Health Minister A. P. Jayasuriya to attend to the matter if Somarama Thero were to submit the requirement in writing. Around 9.45 AM, Somarama Thero sat down again, and fumbled with the file which he had left on the stool as if to pull out a memorandum, but instead withdrew a .45 Webley Mark VI revolver from his robes and fired twice at point-blank range, hitting Bandaranaike in the chest and abdomen. Bandaranaike made a loud sound and fell down, but got up and tried to stagger back inside the house.
Another priest, Ananda Thero from Polonnaruwa, had been sitting in a chair close by and witnessed the incident. When Ananda Thero got up, Somarama Thero pointed his gun at Ananda Thero. Ananda Thero shouted, and Somarama Thero turned around and followed Bandaranaike, shooting at him wildly. Somarama Thero fired four more shots, emptying the chambers of the revolver. One bullet hit Bandaranaike's hand and another hit a school teacher who had come to see the prime minister. The two other shots hit a glass pane on a door and a flower pot, breaking it.
Confusion and commotion had broken out, and the police constable on duty at the gate came running in, having been alerted by the sound of gunshots before Ananda Thero came out shouting that the prime minister had been shot. The police constable fired at Somarama Thero, wounding him in the groin. Somarama Thero was quickly surrounded and overpowered. Bandaranaike ordered restraint and mercy towards Somarama Thero, who was arrested and taken to the Harbour Police Station under armed guard while the prime minister was rushed to the Colombo General Hospital.
Aftermath
When news of the assassination attempt reached parliament, which was in session, Education Minister Wijeyananda Dahanayake requested an adjournment, but a majority of members disagreed. However, many soon left to inquire about the prime minister.