V. Muthiah Panchalingam ( – 1 May 1989) was a Sri Lankan civil servant. He was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

by the rebel

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

Early life

Panchalingam was the son of Muthiah, a businessman from

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

in central

Ceylon 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 ...

. He was educated at

Jaffna Hindu College Jaffna Hindu College ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாணம் இந்துக் கல்லூரி, translit=Yāḻppāṇam Intuk Kallūri; si, යාපනය හින්දු විද්‍යාලය, translit=Yāpanaya Hindu Vidyāl ...

and

Ananda College ''Appamādo Amathapadan'' (Buddhist quote from the Apramada Vagga in the Dhammapada) , motto_translation = Heedfulness, Punctuality leads to Nirvana , location = P De S Kularatne Mawatha , city = Colom ...

. After school he joined the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univer ...

, graduating with an honours

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in chemistry.

Career

After university Panchalingam worked as a research officer in the Rubber Research Institute before joining the

Ceylon Civil Service The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, was the premier civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule and in the immediate post-independence period. Established in 1833, it functioned as part of the ...

in 1957 a District Land Officer. He served in

Mannar Mannar may refer to the following places: India * Mannar, Alappuzha, a town in Chengannur Taluk, Kerala Sri Lanka * Mannar District, one of 25 districts in Sri Lanka ** Mannar Island, an island within the district **Mannar Bridge, a bridge connect ...

and

Vavuniya Vavuniya (, romanized: ''Vavuṉiyā'', , romanized: ''Vavuniyāva''). Vavuniya City is the capital of Vavuniya District in the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka and the largest city in the Northern Province. The municip ...

. He was later Assistant Government Agent and Additional Government Agent (1979) in

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

. He became

District Secretary A Government Agent (GA) or a District Secretary is a Sri Lankan civil servant of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service appointed by the central government to govern a certain district of the country. The GA is the administrative head of public servic ...

for Jaffna District in 1984.

Death

Panchalingam was shot dead on 1 May 1989 at his brother's house in Nallur. A youth with an

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...

rifle had fired 23 bullets into Panchalingam's body, eight into his head. The rebel

claimed responsibility for Panchalingam's killing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panchalingam, V. M. 1989 deaths Alumni of Ananda College Alumni of Jaffna Hindu College Alumni of the University of Ceylon Government Agents (Sri Lanka) Assassinated Sri Lankan people People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka People killed during the Sri Lankan Civil War Sri Lankan Tamil civil servants Year of birth uncertain 1930 births