Cyril Dissanayake

C.C. Dissanayake
Born	Ceylon
Died	Sri Lanka
Other names	Jungle
Police career
Department	Ceylon Police Force
Allegiance	Ceylon
Years of service	19?? - 1963
Rank	Deputy Inspector-General of Police

Cyril Cyrus "Jungle" Dissanayake is a Sri Lankan senior police officer. He was one of the leaders of the attempted military coup of 1962.

Education

Dissanayake was educated at Royal College, Colombo and at Ceylon University College where he was active sportsmen.

Career

After graduating from University joined the Ceylon Police Force as a Probationary Assistant Superintendent of Police. During World War II Dissanayake along with Captain (later Colonel) F. C. de Saram were selected by British Intelligence to serve with their underground resistance should Ceylon fall to the Japanese in 1942, after the fall of Burma, Malaya and Singapore in 1942. He was Superintendent of Police of Colombo during the Hartal 1953 and during riots of 1958 he was the Deputy Inspector-General of Police of Range I.

During police serviced he received the Ceylon Police Medal for Meritorious Service, Defence Medal 1939-45, Ceylon Police Independence Medal and the Service Medal of the Order of St John.

Coup

Main article: Attempted military coup in Ceylon, 1962

As member of the Christian elite, who ever being deprived of the influence they once had due to the Sihinalaisation process started by Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and carried on by Sirimavo Bandaranaike, several disgruntled christian officers of the army, navy and police began to plot a coup similar to that of General Ayub Khan.

The coup members intended to carry out the coups d'état at midnight 27 January 1962 under the instigation of J.F.D. Liyanage of the Ceylon Civil Service and leadership of Colonel F. C. de Saram and C.C. Dissanayake. Colonel de Saram, who would command the military units of the corp and C.C. Dissanayake the police units. The plan was to use troops from the Ceylon Artillery and several other volunteer units along with scout cars of the Ceylon Armoured Corps and policemen to detain the Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike at Temple Trees (the official residence of the prime minister) and round up cabinet ministers, the Permanent Secretary for Defence and External affairs, the Inspector General of Police, DIG (Director of CID), SP (CID) and the acting Navy Commander. The Army Commander were to be restrained too. Colombo placed under curfew and cut off from regular army units based at the Panagoda Cantonment. After the coup members gain control, the newly-self appointed Major-General F. C. De Saram, General Officer Commanding Ceylon, was to command all Military establishments and would have the Governor general Sir Oliver Goonetilleke to dissolve parliament. C.C. Dissanayake would become acting Inspector General of Police.

However one of the plotters, SP of Colombo Stanley Senanayake who was brought in to the plot that morning by Dissanayake warned the government and all the plotters were arrested. Since no actual coup had happen the government was determined to punish the accused and with the cabinet carrying out the investigation instead of the police, had them confined to solitary confinement in hope of getting a confession. Finlay F. C. de Saram did make a confession, taking all blame for the coup that would become the prosecutions main article of evidence. Dissanayake made no confession, however the day after his arrest he was removed of his post in the police. On 3 June 1963, he was convicted with 11 others out of the 24 accused and sentenced to 10 years in jail and confiscation of property after laws had been modified the government in order to convicted the plotters. The conviction was overruled on appeal to the Privy Council, which ruled that the new Act had denied fair trial, since the new laws only effect the accused.

Family

He and his wife had two daughters and a son. His son T.D.S.A. Dissanayake became a Sri Lanka and UN diplomat going on to become Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia and Egypt. The current Colombo district Member of Parliament Ravi Karunanayake is his grandson. His brother was DIG S.A. Dissanayake, who was the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, he was on the list of those to be arrested during the coup, but in turn played a pivotal role in stopping the coup. S. A. Dissanayake went on to become the Inspector General of Police.

External links and references

• Coup of 1962: an inside story, by former diplomat T. D. S. A. Dissanayaka, son of C.C. "Jungle" Dissanayake
• Looking back on operation `Holdfast'
• THE QUEEN v. CYRIL CYRUS DISSANAYAKA
• JR’s Kandy March and the tale of ‘Imbulgoda Veeraya’
• How tough cops got over tricky situations, Former DIG Vamadevan recalls police life in old Ceylon