Nugagaha Kapalle Illangakoon (born 12 April 1956) was the 33rd

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

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 ...

, serving from 16 July 2011 to 11 April 2016. He also served as an

advisor An adviser or advisor is normally a person with more and deeper knowledge in a specific area and usually also includes persons with cross-functional and multidisciplinary expertise. An adviser's role is that of a mentor or guide and differs categor ...

to the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

Early life and education

Nugagaha Kapalle Illangakoon was born on 12 April 1956 in

Balangoda Balangoda is a large town in Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an urban council located away from Colombo and from Ratnapura on Colombo - Batticaloa Highway(A4). It is one of the largest towns of the Sabaragamuw ...

, the youngest in a family of five. He received his education at Udagama Maha Vidyalaya in Balangoda before attending

University of Colombo (Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate) , mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens'' , established = , endowment = Sri Lankan rupee, LKR 1.461 1,000,000,000 (number), billion

in 1974, where he graduated in 1979 with a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. In some countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, additional tasks like field work and research are required in order for ...

. He taught Mathematics and Social Science at Hambegamuwe Maha Vidyalaya in Thanamalwila.

Police career

In 1982 Illangakoon joined the

Police Service The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...

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 b ...

. His first appointment was as the Assistant Superintendent in-charge of the

Kurunegala District Kurunegala is a district in North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Consists of and consists 30 Divisional Secretariats, 1610 Grama Niladari Divisions and 4476 total Villages. It consists of 14 Electorate Divisions, 02 Municipal Council, 19 Urban C ...

. He served in Jaffna, Ampara and Batticaloa as Area Commander. In 1983 he was one of the officers responsible for establishing the Police Special Task Force (STF), serving as the Task Force's first Deputy Commandant. Illangakoon was appointed as the Director

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

in 1999 and promoted to

Deputy Inspector General of Police A Deputy Inspector General of Police (abbreviated as DIG) is a high-ranking official position in Police in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. India Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) is a rank i ...

. On 16 July 2011 he was appointed as Inspector-General of Police, replacing the outgoing Inspector-General

Mahinda Balasuriya Dr. Mahinda Balasuriya (18 June 1953 – 29 April 2021) was the 32nd Inspector General of the Sri Lanka Police (IGP) (2009–2011). Balasuriya was educated at Ananda College, Colombo, before obtaining a BSc. in Chemistry and a M.Phil at ...

. He retired on 11 April 2016 after five years in the position.

Later work

Following the deadly Easter bomb attacks, Illangakoon was appointed as an advisor to the

in April 2019, and appointed a member of the

Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Easter Attacks The Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Easter Attacks is a Presidential Commission of Inquiry in to the deadly Easter bomb attacks appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena on 21 April 2019 tasked with investigating the causes and backgro ...

headed by

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

Vijith Malalgoda Vijith K. Malalgoda is a judge from Sri Lanka. He is a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and former president of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with th ...

, and including former Law and Order Ministry Secretary, Padmasiri Jayamanne, tasked with investigating the causes and background for the

2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches in Sri Lanka and three luxury hotels in the commercial capital, Colombo, were targeted in a series of coordinated ISIS-related terrorist suicide bombings. Later that day, there were smaller expl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Illangakoon, N. K. 1956 births Alumni of the University of Sri Lanka (Colombo) Sinhalese police officers Sri Lankan Buddhists Sri Lankan Inspectors General of Police Living people