Panagoda Maheswaran (born 1955 as Thambapillai Maheswaran) is a

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

who founded and led the

Tamil Eelam Army The Tamil Eelam Army is a defunct Tamil separatist group in Sri Lanka. It was founded by Panagoda Maheswaran. It was implicated in a bomb attack against a Sri Lankan airliner at Madras airport in India. It was disbanded after that incident. See ...

. He studied chemical engineering from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and was an expert in explosives. His name ''Panagoda'' came as he was jailed in

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 ...

in the outskirts of

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, whence he made an audacious escape. He attempted to blow up an

Air Lanka SriLankan Airlines (formerly known as Air Lanka) is the flag carrier of Sri Lanka and a member airline of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is currently the largest airline in Sri Lanka by number of aircraft and destinations and was launched i ...

aircraft in 1984.

References

Sri Lankan Tamil rebels 1955 births Living people Alumni of the University of London {{SriLanka-activist-stub