Prime Minister's Security Division (PMSD) is a unit of 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 = ...

charged with the close protection of the

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head and most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's executive branch behind the president, wh ...

. It is headed by a gazetted officer of the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG). The unit consists of both uniformed and non-uniformed officers who provide close protection and guard Prime Ministerial residences.

History

With the formation of the office of the

Prime Minister of Ceylon The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head and most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's executive branch behind the president, wh ...

, an ASP or an IP was assigned for the personal protection of prime minister with a small detachment of police constables, who were usually armed with

Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the British Army's st ...

rifles to guard

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 ...

. These policemen lacked special training in close protection. This was highlighted when Prime Minister S W R D Bandaranaike was assassinated at his private residence by

Talduwe Somarama Talduwe Ratugama Rallage Weris Singho, better known as Talduwe Somarama Thero (27 August 1915 – 6 July 1962), shot and killed S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka), who served from 1956 until his assas ...

. Following the assassination, security was enhanced with a detachment of the

Ceylon Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

including Ferret armoured cars of the

Ceylon Armoured Corps The Sri Lanka Armoured Corps (SLAC) provides the armour capability of the Sri Lanka Army, with vehicles such as the T-55AM2, and type 80/88 main battle tanks; the BMP infantry fighting vehicle; and the BTR-80, and WZ551 armoured personnel carri ...

. The need for specialized independent unit was once again highlighted when personal from the internal security detail of the

Royal Ceylon Navy ta, இலங்கை கடற்படை , image = Sri Lanka Naval Seal.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of Sri Lanka Navy , dates = , c ...

, the ''Provost Branch'' were brought to guard Temple Trees on the night of 27 January 1962 when the attempted military coup by senior police and military officers was due to be launched. In 1970, the security of the prime minister was assigned to the Field Security Detachment of the Ceylon Army. With the creation of the Executive Presidency in 1978 the Prime Minister ceased to be the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

. This reduced the power of the post, however with the escalation of political associations as a result of the Sri Lankan civil war and the JVP Uprising (1988-1989) the security of the Prime Minister increased. For this purpose the ''Prime Minister's Security Division'' was officially created in the 1990s with specially trained police officers and Special Task Force personal attached to it. On January 5, 2000, personal of the PMSD prevented an assassination attempt by a

female suicide bomber Female suicide bombers are women who carry out a suicide attack, wherein the bomber kills herself while simultaneously killing targeted people. Suicide bombers are normally viewed as male political radicals but since the 1960s female suicide attac ...

of the

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

, the bomber detonated the bomb outside the Prime Minister's Office killing 13 civilians and three police officers attached to the PMSD.

External links

President's Security now Comes Under New Army Unit
{{Sri Lankan security forces Sri Lanka Police units Protective security units

History

See also

External links