When the Black July anti-Tamil riots erupted in July 1983 Ranaraja persuaded the police in Kandy to lock up known troublemakers in order to minimise violence in the city but hard-line nationalist minister Cyril Mathew got them released and the riots soon spread to Kandy . Following the Welikada prison massacre Sri Lankan security forces tried to dispose of the murdered prisoners ' bodies but Ranaraja and permanent Secretary Mervyn Wijesinghe managed to save the bodies so that judicial inquests could be held . After the Anuradhapura massacre by the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 1985 Ranaraja was urged by some Sinhalese people to expel Tamils from Kandy but Ranaraja refused , saying that it was their duty to protect Tamils
Anuradhapura massacre
Anuradhapura massacre
Shelton Ranaraja