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Thampalakamam massacre happened on 1 February 1998 when eight Sri Lankan Tamil civilians were taken to the nearby police station and shot dead by Sri Lankan Police and Sinhalese home guards in Thampalakamam, Trincomalee District. The victims include two brothers aged 13 and 17.

Massacre

On 1 February 1998, at 5.30 am, about 20 drunken policemen and home guards from two Sinhalese settlements launched a roundup of two neighbouring Tamil villages of Puthukkudiyiruppu and Potkerni in Thampalakamam, Trincomalee District. They went around pulling Tamil villagers out of their houses, severely assaulting them and shooting dead their cows and dogs. Several individuals were detained and taken to the police station. Some were released but eight individuals were shot dead at close range. Several bodies of the victims bore signs of torture. The victims were Ponnambalam Kanagasaby (48), Arumugam Segar (32), Gunaratnam Sivarajah (27), Subramaniam Thivakaran (23), Muruges Janakan (17), Amirthalingam Surendran (14), Amirthalingam Gajendran (17) and Nathan Pavalanathan (33). The schoolboy Arumugam Segar had his penis cut off and placed in his mouth.

Investigation and trial

Following the massacre, the Kantalai Police reportedly pressured the families to sign statements stating that the victims were members of the LTTE or were killed by them. However, the identities of the culprits were confirmed at a magisterial inquiry by the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Kantalai Police station but the accused were not arrested and reportedly continued to be on active duty. In 2005, the Kantalai Police arrested 13 policemen and home guards and the Attorney General filed charges against them. However, in 2017 the charges against six of the accused were withdrawn. In 2024, the Anuradhapura High Court sentenced five of the accused police officers, including the OIC, of the Bharathipuram Police station to life imprisonment. One of the accused in the murder case had been shot dead by unknown gunmen in 2000.

See also

• List of attacks on civilians attributed to Sri Lankan government forces

References

1. ^ "Sri Lanka: Government forces kill eight civilians - justice needed now". Amnesty International. 3 February 1998. Archived from the original on January 31, 2004. Retrieved 2006-01-06.
2. "THE OUTRAGE AT THAMPALAKAMAM - THE HIDDEN REALITY". UTHR(J). 5 February 1998.
3. ^ Fernando, Ruki (2024-05-17). "The 1998 Bharathipuram Killings and Accountability for War Time Atrocities". Groundviews.
4. Fein, Bruce (2009). Model Indictment for Genocide Against Gotabhaya Rajapakse and Sarath Fonseka Proposed to the U.S. Justice Department (PDF). Washington DC: Tamils Against Genocide. p. 89.
5. Ananda, Upali (29 April 2024). "Bharathipuram OIC, four cops get life sentence for 1998 murders". Daily News.
6. "Massacre accused shot dead". TamilNet. 27 January 2000. Retrieved 2006-01-06.

v t e Sri Lankan civil war (1983–2009)
Origins	Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism Sinhala Only Act 1956 1958 Vaddukoddai Resolution 1977 1981 Burning of Jaffna Library Black July
Combatants	Sri Lanka Army (LRRP) Navy Air Force Police Special Task Force Home Guards Attacks on civilians Assassinations LTTE Divisions Air Tigers Sea Tigers Black Tigers Attacks in the 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Assassinations Suicide bombings Other militants (list) ENDLF ENLF EPRLF EROS PLOTE TELO  India Indian Peace Keeping Force Paramilitary groups EPDP TMVP
Phases	Eelam War I Indian intervention Eelam War II III IV Eastern / Northern theatres
Major battles	Kokkilai Vadamarachchi Poomalai Pawan Jaffna University Helidrop Balavegaya 1st Elephant Pass Pooneryn Riviresa 1st Mullaitivu Weli Oya Sath Jaya Vavunathivu Jayasikurui Thandikulam–Omanthai 1st Kilinochchi Oddusuddan A-9 highway 2nd Elephant Pass Bandaranaike Airport attack Point Pedro Jaffna Thoppigala Vidattaltivu 2nd Kilinochchi 2nd Mullaitivu Puthukkudiyirippu
Major events	Air Lanka Flight 512 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord Expulsions from Northern province Assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi Assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa Temple of the Tooth attack Lionair Flight 602 Bandaranaike Airport attack Expulsions from Colombo 2009 suicide air raid on Colombo
Leaders	Sri Lanka Military Army Tissa Weeratunga Nalin Seneviratne Hamilton Wanasinghe Cecil Waidyaratne G. H. De Silva Rohan Daluwatte Srilal Weerasooriya L. P. Balagalle Shantha Kottegoda Sarath Fonseka Navy Asoka de Silva H. A. Silva Clancy Fernando D. A. M. R. Samarasekara H. C. A. C. Thisera Daya Sandagiri Wasantha Karannagoda Air Force Dick Perera Andibuduge Fernando Makalandage Gunawardena Oliver Ranasinghe Jayalath Weerakkody Donald Perera Roshan Goonetileke Civilian J. R. Jayewardene Ranasinghe Premadasa Dingiri Banda Wijetunga Chandrika Kumaratunga Mahinda Rajapaksa LTTE Militant Velupillai Prabhakaran Pottu Amman Soosai Karuna Amman Political Selvarasa Pathmanathan Anton Balasingham S. P. Thamilselvan India Military Harkirat Singh Ashok K. Mehta Kulwant Singh Depinder Singh Dalvir Singh Krishnaswamy Sundarji Civilian R. Venkataraman Rajiv Gandhi V. P. Singh Jyotindra Nath Dixit J. Jayalalithaa M. Karunanidhi Vaiko
Aftermath	Genocide Films NPC resolution LLRC Reactions (Protests) Remembrance Day UN Panel on Accountability War crimes Chemical weapons
Related topics	Casualties Assassinations Massacres Child soldiers Disappearances Office on Missing Persons Human rights Popular culture Terrorism Non-state State PTA Sexual violence Sixth Amendment Thirteenth Amendment 1988 Maldives coup attempt 1987–1989 JVP insurrection
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• 1998 crimes in Sri Lanka
• Attacks on civilians attributed to the Sri Lanka Civil Security Force
• Attacks on civilians attributed to the Sri Lanka Police
• 1990s massacres of the Sri Lankan civil war
• Massacres in 1998
• Mass murder of Sri Lankan Tamils
• People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Sri Lanka
• Sri Lankan government forces attacks in Eelam War III
• Terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in 1998
• February 1998 events in Asia