Palitha Range Bandara (born September 8, 1962) is a

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 ...

n politician. He was a

State Minister Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

of Irrigation and Water Resource Management and a former member of the

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

from

Anamaduwa Anamaduwa (Sinhala: ආණමඩුව) is a town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is located about away from Puttalam. Etymology There are few stories around the name of Anamaduwa. According to one such story, after ...

. Born Range Bandarage Palitha Range Bandara as the sixth child to a family of eleven children in the remote village of Karuwalagaswewa off

Puttalam Puttalam ( si, පුත්තලම, translit=Puttalama; ta, புத்தளம், translit=Puttaḷam) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam ...

. He received his education at Ananda College Puttalam. He joined the

Sri Lanka Police (The one who lives by the Dhamma is protected by the Dhamma itself) , mission = , formedyear = , preceding1 = Ceylon Police Force (1866–1972) , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = ...

as a

police constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

in 1983 and served until he retired on August 24, 2000 in the grade of Sub-Inspector of Police. He claimed political victimization forcing his retirement and the National Police Commission recommended that he be promoted to the grade of

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 ...

from his retirement grade of Sub Inspector in December 2017.NPC recommends Range Bandara promotion as ASP
/ref> After leaving the police service, he contested the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

in 2000 and was elected to Parliament from Anamaduwa from the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

being the third on the preferential list. In the

in 2001 he topped the list of preferential votes. In the following general election he was reelected to Parliament. Following the change of government in 2015, he was appointed State Minister of Power and Energy. He is tipped to be the next Leader of the United National Party

References

* * ;Specific 1962 births Living people Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka United National Party politicians State ministers of Sri Lanka Sinhalese police officers {{NorthWesternLK-politician-stub