1983 Batticaloa Jailbreak happened in

Batticaloa Batticaloa ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu''; si, මඩකලපුව, ''Maḍakalapuwa'') is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the B ...

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 ...

on 23 September 1983. After the

Welikada prison massacre The Welikada Prison Massacre took place during the 1983 Black July pogrom against Sri Lankan Tamil minority in Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the exec ...

, Tamil political inmates were transferred to

. Since they were not co-operating with the police they were told by the prison guards that they were to be transferred back to a

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

area. Fearing death, 41 Tamil political inmates decided to escape. Using smuggled weapons and outside help they overwhelmed the guards and escaped in groups. Using this opportunity 150 criminal inmates also escaped. Prominent political escapees include Ramalingam Paramadeva,

Panagoda Maheswaran Panagoda Maheswaran (born 1955 as Thambapillai Maheswaran) is a Sri Lankan Tamil militant who founded and led the Tamil Eelam Army. He studied chemical engineering from the University of London and was an expert in explosives. His name ''Panagoda' ...

Douglas Devananda Kathiravelu Nythiananda Devananda, commonly known as Douglas Devananda ( ta, டக்ளஸ் தேவானந்தா), is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Cabinet Minister and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party. Originally a Sri ...

and few

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

sympathisers. This jailbreak was bloodless. The escapees left behind some female political inmates, who were rescued by Ramalingam Paramadeva of the Tamil Tigers in

1984 Batticaloa Jailbreak 1984 Batticaloa Jailbreak, was carried out by Ramalingam Paramadeva of Tamil Tigers to release a female political inmate, Nirmala Nithiyananthan, who was left behind in the 1983 Batticaloa Jailbreak, this incident happened on 10 June 1984. Parama ...

References

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam * Prison escapes History of Sri Lanka (1948–present) Batticaloa Jailbreak History of Batticaloa District {{DEFAULTSORT:Batticaloa jail break

See also

References