relative of the president. A witness, Rohini Hathurusinghe gave evidence that Major General Vijaya Wimalaratne and Major General Ananda Weerasekara conspired to kill Kobbekaduwa with a bomb planted in his jeep, which caused a major national scandal. A report from the Criminal Investigation Department found Hathurusinghe's evidence could not be corroborated, yet Bandaranayake allowed her testimony. Justice Gunasekera and Ameratunga resigned from the commission. Televised, the commissioned became a media sensation and a statue of Wimalaratne was destroyed by a mob. Hathurusinghe changed her story and accused the Chairmen of the commission of getting her to falsely accuse the army officers. Although the validity of Hathurusinghe's evidence was questioned, the Presidential Commission speculated that then President Ranasinghe Premadasa, as well as members of the Sri Lankan Army such as Major W A N M Weerasinghe, were "directly responsible" for his death. The Asia Times commented that "a second and last Presidential Commission came up with highly speculative conclusions." Awards and decorations During his career he received the Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal, Sri Lanka Army 25th Anniversary Medal, President's Inauguration Medal, Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal, Vadamarachchi Operation Medal, Purna Bhumi Padakkama and Rana Wickrama Padakkama. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and awarded the Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya, Rana Sura Padakkama (twice), Uttama Seva Padakkama and Desha Putra Sammanaya. His widow received the Uththama Pooja Pranama Padakkama medal in 2010. Legacy Several statues of General Kobbekaduwa were erected following his death, along with several roads named after him. See also Sri Lankan Civil War Eelam War I Eelam War II References Further reading Army, Sri Lanka. (1st Edition – October 1999). "50 YEARS ON" – 1949–1999, Sri Lanka Army. War and Peace in Sri Lanka: With a Post-Accord Report From Jaffna. /, Institute of Fundamental Studies, Sri Lanka; 1 edition (1 October 1987), By Rohan Gunaratna. The Broken Palmyra – The Tamil Crisis in Sri Lanka: An Inside Account. The Sri Lanka Studies Institute, Claremont 1990. By Hoole, R., Somasundaram, D., Sritharan K., and Rajini Thiranagama. (Also available online .) Indian intervention in Sri Lanka: The role of India's intelligence agencies. /, South Asian Network on Conflict Research (1993), By Rohan Gunaratna. External links Ministry of Defence, Sri Lanka Denzil Kobbekaduwa-By Soma Jayakodi (Article in the Pujitha Jiwitha 5th Volume in Sinhala Amara Samara in Sinhala 1940 births 1992 deaths Sri Lankan