Cyril Cyrus "Jungle" Dissanayake, MVO was a Sri Lankan senior

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

. He was serving as Deputy Inspector-General of Police of Range I, when he was implicated as one of the leaders of the attempted military coup of 1962.

Education

Dissanayake was educated at Royal College, Colombo and at

Ceylon University College Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of Lo ...

where he was an active sportsman.

Career

He joined the Ceylon Police Force as a

Probationary Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

Assistant Superintendent of Police Assistant superintendent, or assistant superintendent of police (ASP), is a rank that was used by police forces in the British Empire and is still used in many police forces in the Commonwealth. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held ...

in the Ceylon Police Force in June 1934. Having completed his service examinations, he was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Police, Galle in June 1936; Colombo District (North) in February 1937 before undergoing training at

Hendon Police College Hendon Police College is the principal training centre for London's Metropolitan Police. Founded with the official name of the Metropolitan Police College, the college has officially been known as the Peel Centre since 1974, although its origi ...

in 1939. On his return in November 1939, he was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Police, Chilaw; Kegalle in December 1941; Colombo Division (North) in May 1942; Avissawella in August 1942; Gampaha in August 1943. In April 1945, he was appointed Acting

Superintendent of Police Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territories ...

of the Eastern and North-Central Provinces and was confirmed in June 1946. In August 1946 he took over as Superintendent of Police, Kandy; May 1947 of Sabaragamuwa; November 1948 of Western Province (North) and in January 1950 Superintendent of Police, Colombo. In 1950 he underwent a course in Traffic Control in India. In 1953, he was appointed Acting Deputy Inspector-General of Police of Range I and later confirmed. He was in this position during the

Hartal 1953 1953 வேலைநிறுத்தம் The Hartal 1953 ( si, 1953 වර්ජනය, translit=Varjanaya) was a country-wide demonstration of civil disobedience and strike, commonly known as a hartal, held in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on 12 ...

and during riots of 1958. In 1954, he was appointed a

Member of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

(MVO) for service to Queen Elizabeth II. During police serviced he received the

Ceylon Police Medal for Meritorious Service The Ceylon Police Medal was awarded to police officers of the Ceylon Police Force, with two versions: for gallantry and for meritorious service. The number of medals for meritorious service was limited to a maximum of ten a year. The medals were ...

, Defence Medal 1939-45, Ceylon Police Independence Medal and the

Service Medal of the Order of St John The Service Medal of the Order of St John is awarded to recognise both conspicuous and long service with the Venerable Order of St John, particularly in St John Ambulance, both in the United Kingdom and in a number of other Commonwealth countri ...

. In 1959, when

Inspector General of Police An Inspector General of Police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most se ...

Osmund de Silva Santiago Wilson Osmund De Silva (25 December 1909 - c. 1980) was Ceylonese police officer. He was the thirteenth and the first Ceylonese career police officer to become Inspector-General of Police (1955–1959). Early life and education ...

was sent on compulsorily retirement by Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike for refusing to carryout orders which Osmund de Silva considered unlawful, DIG Dissanayake was next in line for the post of Inspector General of Police based on the seniority list. Bandaranaike however appointed M. Walter F. Abeykoon, a civil servant instead. Dissanayake tendered his resignation, but it was later withdrawn.

Coup d'etat attempt

As member of the Christian elite, who ever being deprived of the influence they once had due to the Sinhalaisation 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 in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. 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 Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

F. C. de Saram and C.C. Dissanayake. Colonel de Saram, who would command the military units of the corps and C.C. Dissanayake the police units. The plan was to use troops from the

Ceylon Artillery The Sri Lanka Artillery (SLA) is the artillery arm of the Sri Lanka Army. It is made up of ten regular regiments and two volunteer regiments. The SLA is headquartered at Panagoda Cantonment, Panagoda. The emblem of the SLA is modeled after tha ...

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 Temple Trees is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. It is located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Several recent Presidents have used it as their official residence as well. History Private residence The history of ''Temple Trees' ...

(the official residence of the prime minister) and round up cabinet ministers, the Permanent Secretary for Defence and External affairs, the

, 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 Panagoda Cantonment is a cantonment located in the western Western Province of Sri Lanka. It serves as the regimental headquarters of many regiments of the Sri Lanka Army and is an arsenal. It also houses one of the main Military Hospitals operat ...

. After the coup members gain control, the newly-self appointed

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

F. C. De Saram, General Officer Commanding Ceylon, was to command all Military establishments and would have the

Governor-General of Ceylon The Governor-General of Ceylon was the representative of the Ceylonese monarch in the Dominion of Ceylon from the country's independence in 1948 until it became the republic of Sri Lanka in 1972. History There were four governors-general. ...

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Oliver Goonetilleke Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke ( si, ශ්‍රිමත් ඔලිවර් ගුණතිලක) (20 October 1892 – 17 December 1978) was a Sri Lankan statesman. Having served as an important figure in the gradual independence of Cey ...

to dissolve parliament. C.C. Dissanayake would become acting

. However one of the plotters, SP of Colombo Stanley Senanayake who was brought into 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. Finally, F. C. de Saram did make a confession, taking all blame for the coup that would become the prosecution's 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

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Aug ...

, 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 A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Ravi Karunanayake is his grandson. His brother was DIG S.A. Dissanayake, who was the Director of the

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is distinct from its Special Branch (though officers of b ...

, 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

External links and references

Coup of 1962: an inside story, by former diplomat T. D. S. A. Dissanayaka, son of C.C. "Jungle" Dissanayake

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dissanayake, C.C. Sinhalese people Sri Lankan police officers Sri Lankan Christians Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of the Ceylon University College Prisoners and detainees of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan prisoners and detainees Ceylonese Members of the Royal Victorian Order Year of birth missing (living people)