future coup he empowered the Special Branch of the Ceylon Police Force charged with internal security. Sirima Bandaranaike's distrust continued into her second term in 1970, fearful of another military coup, she had the police units such as the Special Branch reorganized and appointed her cousin Anuruddha Ratwatte as commanding officer of the Army's Field Security Detachment tasked with identifying leaders of a potential coup. As a result, the military was under strength and ill-equipped to deal with the 1971 JVP Insurrection, which took the Bandaranaike government by complete surprise. To overcome the perilous situation Ceylon had to rely on help from other countries. Finally when Bandaranaike government introduced a new constitution in 1972, it declared Sri Lanka as a republic breaking the last remaining links to the British Empire, including the final level of judicial appeal to the Privy Council. Accused conspirators of the coup attempt Military Colonel F. C. de Saram, OBE - Deputy Commandant, Volunteer Force (found guilty) Colonel Maurice De Mel - Commandant, Ceylon Volunteer Force and former Chief of Staff of the Army (found guilty) Rear Admiral (Rtd) Gerard Royce Maxwell de Mel, OBE - recently relieved captain of the navy (found guilty) Lieutenant Colonel Wilmot (Willie) Selvanayagam Abrahams, MBE- Commanding Officer, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Ceylon Artillery (died in Welikada Prison in 1964) Lieutenant Colonel Basil Rajandiram Jesudasan - Commanding Officer, 2nd Volunteer Signals, Ceylon Signals Corps (found guilty) Lieutenant Colonel Noel Vivian Mathysz - Commanding Officer, Ceylon Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (found guilty) Major Victor Joseph Harold Gunasekera, CCS - 2nd Volunteer Coastal Artillery Regiment, Ceylon Artillery and Controller of Imports Exports Major Bastianpillai Ignatius Loyola - 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Ceylon Artillery (found guilty) Major Wilton George White - 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Ceylon Artillery (found guilty) Major Victor Leslie Percival Joseph - Duty Officer, Ceylon Armoured Corps Headquarters, Rockhouse Camp, Mutwal, Colombo (found guilty) Captain John Anthony Kajaratnam Felix - Staff Officer, Ceylon Volunteer Force Headquarters (found guilty) Captain Nimal Stanley Jayakody - 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Ceylon Artillery (found guilty) Captain Tony John Bernard Anghie - 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Ceylon Artillery Captain Don Edmond Weerasinghe - 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Ceylon Artillery Police Cyril Cyrus "Jungle" Dissanayake - Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Range I. Sidney Godfrey de Zoysa - former Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) (found guilty) Vithanage Elster Perera - Superintendent of Police (West) William