Daya Pathirana
Leader, Independent Students' Union, University of Colombo
15 December 1986 · Bolgoda Lake, Piliyandala
Abducted and murdered; the JVP-led student federation is blamed. Seen as the first targeted killing of the campaign.
Lanka Witness · Memorial
Remembering 1987–89: the lives taken in the JVP's campaign of terror
Sri Lanka is now governed by the party whose armed campaign of 1987–89 killed thousands of Sri Lankans. These are some of the best-known people killed in attacks attributed to the JVP and its armed wing, the Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya (DJV).
2 November 2026 • Lanka Witness Evidence Desk
Vijaya Kumaratunga
Actor, playback singer, founder of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party
Killed 16 February 1988 · Polhengoda, Colombo
Vijaya Kumaratunga backed the 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, which the DJV violently opposed. He received several DJV death threats and openly condemned its terror. On 16 February 1988 a gunman shot him in the head at the gate of his home. His funeral was the first ever broadcast live on Sri Lankan television.
Police identified the gunman as Lionel Ranasinghe, alias "Gamini", who is reported to have confessed to acting on the JVP leadership's orders. A 1995 Presidential Commission instead pointed to the then UNP leadership; its findings were widely criticised. Both accounts are part of the record.
They were also killed
Jinadasa Weerasinghe
UNP MP, Tangalle
31 July 1987 · Angunakolapelessa
Shot dead.
Keerthisena Abeywickrama
UNP MP, Deniyaya; District Minister, Matara
18 August 1987 · Parliament, Kotte
Killed when grenades were thrown into a meeting of government MPs. Parliament staffer Norbert Senadheera also died; 16 were injured.
Harsha Abeywardena
Chairman, United National Party
23 December 1987 · Wellawatte, Colombo
Shot dead.
G.V.S. de Silva
UNP MP, Habaraduwa; District Minister
1 May 1988 · Galle
Killed.
Nandalal Fernando
General Secretary, United National Party
20 May 1988 · Wellawatte, Colombo
Killed.
L.W. Panditha
Communist Party member and trade unionist
27 July 1988 · Dematagoda, Colombo
Killed.
Lionel Jayatilleke
Minister of Relief and Rehabilitation; UNP MP, Kuliyapitiya
26 September 1988 · Kuliyapitiya
Shot dead.
D.C. Athukorale
Chief Engineer, Colombo Port Authority
17 November 1988 · Welikada
Shot dead.
Indrapala Abeyweera
Deputy General Secretary, SLFP
10 January 1989 · Kalutara district
Shot dead.
E. Liyana Pathirana
Working Director, Salt Corporation
22 June 1989 · Opanayake
Shot dead.
The full toll
An estimated 6,000–6,700 people were killed by the insurgents between 1987 and 1989; a former JVP leader has admitted a figure of nearly 6,000. The state's response was even deadlier: security forces and death squads killed or disappeared tens of thousands of young people. Those crimes deserve justice too. They do not erase the JVP's own victims.
What the JVP says now
Anura Kumara Dissanayake has expressed regret for the killings on several occasions, while blaming the then UNP government's oppression. In 2025, JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva said the party took up arms when it was necessary. Newspaper editorials across the spectrum say the party has still not made an unqualified apology to its victims' families.
Sources: Wikipedia (List of assassinations of the Second JVP Insurrection; Assassination of Vijaya Kumaratunga), Sunday Times, Sunday Observer, Daily FT, Daily News, Colombo Telegraph, Centre for Policy Alternatives, Cambridge University Press. Attributions reflect police findings and published histories.