The Polonnaruwa massacre was a series of attacks on civilians in the viilages of Alanchipothana, Karapola, Madurangala and Muthugal in eastern Polonnaruwa District

Polonnaruwa District

Polonnaruwa is a district in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its area is 3,403 km²....

, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

 on 29 April 1992 which left 157 dead. The massacres were blamed on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...

, Sri Lankan Home Guards and the Sri Lankan Police

Sri Lanka Police Service

The Sri Lanka Police Service is the civilian national police force of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The police force has a manpower of approximately 85,000. It is responsible for enforcing criminal and traffic law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace...

.

Alanchipothana

At around 12.30am on 29 April 1992 30-40 Tamil Tigers, allegedly aided by Tamil villagers, attacked the Muslim

Sri Lankan Moors

The Sri Lankan Moors are the third largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka comprising 8% of the country's total population . They are predominantly followers of Islam. The Moors trace their ancestry to Arab traders who settled in Sri Lanka some time between the 8th and 15th centuries...

 village of Alanchipothana (also known as Allipothana, Alinghipothana and Alinchipotana) in Polonnaruwa district. The first target was a police post on the outskirts of the village. 26 policemen, 12 Home Guards and 35 volunteers were based at the police post. Most of these fled into the rice fields and jungle. The attackers then shot and hacked to death villagers sleeping in their homes.

54 dead bodies, including 25 women and 21 children under 10, were found at the village after the attack. The injured were taken to hospitals in Polonnaruwa

Polonnaruwa

The second most ancient of Sri Lanka's kingdoms, was first declared the capital city by King Vijayabahu I, who defeated the Chola invaders in 1070 AD to reunite the country once more under a local leader.-History:While Vijayabahu's victory and shifting of Kingdoms to the more strategic Polonnaruwa...

, Kandy

Kandy

Kandy is a city in the center of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is one of the most scenic cities in Sri Lanka; it is both an...

 and Colombo

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

 where a further 8 died of their injuries.

Karapola and Muthugal

At around 6am on 29 April 1992 the Home Guards and policemen from Alanchipothana went to the police post at the Tamil village of Karapola and informed the policemen there of the attack on Alanchipothana. The policemen from Karapola and the Home Guards and policemen from Alanchipothana then went to Muthugal, another Tamil village, and shot and hacked to death dozens of villagers. They returned to Karapola where they killed dozens of villagers. Then, at around 9am, they went to Muthugal again and continued their killings.

51 villagers, including 13 children under 10, were killed at Muthugal. 38 villagers were killed in Karapola.

The army camp at Welikande (9 km from Alanchipothana) was informed of the attacks at 6.30am but it took until 10am for the Army to arrive at Muthugal and put an end to the killings. The Home Guards and policemen were chased away.

Madurangala

Some of villagers from Muthugal who had fled the killings were found by Home Guards hiding in ricefields at Madurangala, a Sinhalese village. Six of the Muthugal villagers (five men and one woman) were arrested by the Home Guards. The woman was released but on 30 April 1992 the bodies of the five men plus a man from Madurangala were found in an irrigation canal.

Karapola

31 of 38 victims at Karapola have been identified:

• 1. Annaletchumy, 18
• 2. Annamma
• 3. Iyathurai
• 4. Janakie, 8
• 5. Kandasamy, 35
• 6. Kandasamy
• 7. Kannamma
• 8. Kunjan, 30
• 9. Leelavathie
• 10. Marimuttu
• 11. Muthupillai
• 12. Muttan
• 13. Niranjan
• 14. Palan
• 15. Poomani
• 16. Rasiah, 60
• 17. Retnam
• 18. Saraswathie
• 19. Sarathadevie, 18
• 20. Sinnamuttu, 68
• 21. Sinnathangam
• 22. Sivagnanam, 40
• 23. Sivarubie, 28
• 24. Sivaramanie, 18
• 25. Subakar, 7
• 26. Sudharshan, 7
• 27. Sussiharan
• 28. Thangamma
• 29. Thangarajah, 45
• 30. Thangarajah
• 31. M Thoma

Muthugal

50 of 51 victims at Muthugal have been identified:

• 1. T. Baabu, 14
• 2. S. Babie, 1
• 3. S. Baliah, 27
• 4. T. Geetha, 14
• 5. K. Gopalapillai, 40
• 6. K. Gopikrishnan, 35
• 7. T. Inpavathy, 8
• 8. K. Kanaganathan, 4
• 9. A. Kandiah, 78
• 10. T. (or K.) Kannagai, 40
• 11. K. Kubendrarajah, 33
• 12. P. Kulendraranee, 35
• 13. S. Lakshimi, 12
• 14. P. Logeswaran, 12
• 15. S. Madanthai, 80
• 16. P. Maheswarie, 29
• 17. S. Mangayarkarasi, 2
• 18. N. Manohanthan, 10
• 19. T. Navamanie, 30
• 20. V. Nethapillai, 80
• 21. V. Nithiyakalyani, 30
• 22. P. Packiyarajah, 37
• 23. T. Panchilakami, 12
• 24. S. Rathees, 4
• 25. T. Ravichandran, 12
• 26. T. Regan, 3
• 27. S. Rubie, 5
• 28. K. Sadasivam, 34
• 29. S. Selvasasie, 3
• 30. S. Sivanesarajah, 40
• 31. S. (or A.) Sivapathy, 32
• 32. S. Sudharshan, 3
• 33. T. Suhenthi, 4
• 34. P. Sulochadevi, 18
• 35. P. Sulochandevi, 30
• 36. Sunderalingam, 28
• 37. K Thangaranee, 21
• 38. Sinnarasiah Thangeswaran, 3
• 39. V. Tharmalingam, 49
• 40. S. Theivanapillai, 70
• 41. V. Theivanayagam, 35
• 42. P. Thiruloganathan, 14
• 43. T. Uthayakumarie, 22
• 44. T. Vasanthakumarie, 13
• 45. T. Vijayakumarie, 15
• 46. T. Vijeyendran, 4
• 47. N. Viswalingam, 7
• 48. P. William Singho, 44
• 49. S. Yogamme, 65
• 50. S. Yogasankaraie, 40

Madurangala

3 of 6 victims at Madurangala have been identified:

• 1. P. Packiyarajah
• 2. Sundaralingam
• 3. Peiris Wijayasinghe

See also

• List of attacks attributed to Sri Lankan government forces
• List of attacks attributed to the LTTE
• List of massacres in Sri Lanka