Cyril Cyrus "Jungle" Dissanayake, MVO was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n senior

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

. He was serving as Deputy Inspector-General of Police of Range I, when he was implicated as one of the leaders of the attempted military coup of 1962.

Education

Dissanayake was educated at

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a Single-sex education, boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh (priest), Joseph Mar ...

and at

Ceylon University College Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of Lo ...

where he was an active sportsman.

Career

He joined the

Ceylon Police Force Sri Lanka Police (; ) is the civilian national police force of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The police force is responsible for enforcing criminal and traffic law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the p ...

as a Probationary

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 ...

in the Ceylon Police Force in June 1934. Having completed his service examinations, he was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Police, Galle in June 1936; Colombo District (North) in February 1937 before undergoing training at

Hendon Police College Hendon Police College is the principal training centre for London's Metropolitan Police. Founded with the official name of the Metropolitan Police College, the college has officially been known as the Peel Centre since 1974, although its origin ...

in 1939. On his return in November 1939, he was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Police, Chilaw; Kegalle in December 1941; Colombo Division (North) in May 1942; Avissawella in August 1942; Gampaha in August 1943. In April 1945, he was appointed Acting

Superintendent of Police Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territori ...

of the Eastern and North-Central Provinces and was confirmed in June 1946. In August 1946 he took over as Superintendent of Police, Kandy; May 1947 of Sabaragamuwa; November 1948 of Western Province (North) and in January 1950 Superintendent of Police, Colombo. In 1950 he underwent a course in Traffic Control in India. In 1953, he was appointed Acting Deputy Inspector-General of Police of Range I and later confirmed. He was in this position during the

Hartal 1953 The Hartal 1953 () was a country-wide demonstration of civil disobedience and strike, commonly known as a hartal, held in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on 12 August 1953. It was organized to protest against the policies and actions of the incumbent Unit ...

and during riots of 1958. In 1954, he was appointed a

Member of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(MVO) for service to

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. During police serviced he received the Ceylon Police Medal for Meritorious Service, Defence Medal 1939-45, Ceylon Police Independence Medal and the

Service Medal of the Order of St John The Service Medal of the Order of St John is awarded to recognise both conspicuous and long service with the Venerable Order of St John, particularly in St John Ambulance, both in the United Kingdom and in a number of other Commonwealth of Nati ...

. In 1959, when

Inspector General of Police An inspector-general of police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most ...

Osmund de Silva was sent on compulsorily retirement by Prime Minister

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (8 January 1899 – 26 September 1959), also known as "The Silver Bell of Asia" (ආසියාවේ රිදී සීනුව), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of ...

for refusing to carryout orders which Osmund de Silva considered unlawful, DIG Dissanayake was next in line for the post of Inspector General of Police based on the seniority list. Bandaranaike however appointed M. Walter F. Abeykoon, a civil servant instead. Dissanayake tendered his resignation, but it was later withdrawn.

Coup d'etat attempt

As member of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...

, who ever being deprived of the influence they once had due to the Sinhalaisation process started by Prime Minister

S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (8 January 1899 – 26 September 1959), also known as "The Silver Bell of Asia" (ආසියාවේ රිදී සීනුව), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of ...

and carried on by

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (; ; ; 17 April 1916 – 10 October 2000), commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan politician. She was the List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government, world's first fe ...

, several disgruntled

officers of the army, navy and police began to plot a coup similar to that of General

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. The coup members intended to carry out the coups d'état at midnight 27 January 1962 under the instigation of J.F.D. Liyanage of 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 th ...

and leadership of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

F. C. de Saram and C.C. Dissanayake. Colonel de Saram, who would command the military units of the corps and C.C. Dissanayake the police units. The plan was to use troops from the

Ceylon Artillery The Sri Lanka Artillery (SLA) is the artillery arm of the Sri Lanka Army. It is made up of ten regular regiments and two volunteer regiments. The SLA is headquartered at Panagoda Cantonment, Panagoda. The emblem of the SLA is modeled after that ...

and several other volunteer units along with scout cars of the Ceylon Armoured Corps and policemen to detain the Prime Minister

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 Tree ...

(the official residence of the prime minister) and round up cabinet ministers, the Permanent Secretary for Defence and External affairs, the

, DIG (Director of CID), SP ( CID) and the acting Navy Commander. The Army Commander were to be restrained too. Colombo placed under curfew and cut off from regular army units based at the

Panagoda Cantonment Panagoda Cantonment is a cantonment located in the 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 operated by the ...

. After the coup members gain control, the newly-self appointed Major-General F. C. De Saram,

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

Ceylon, was to command all Military establishments and would have the

Governor-General of Ceylon The governor-general of Ceylon was the representative of the Ceylonese monarch in the Dominion of Ceylon from the country's independence in 1948 until it became the republic of Sri Lanka in 1972. History There were four governors-general. Si ...

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

Oliver Goonetilleke to dissolve parliament. C.C. Dissanayake would become acting

. However one of the plotters, SP of Colombo Stanley Senanayake who was brought into the plot that morning by Dissanayake warned the government and all the plotters were arrested. Since no actual coup had happened the government was determined to punish the accused and with the cabinet carrying out the investigation instead of the police, had them confined to solitary confinement in hope of getting a confession. Finally, F. C. de Saram did make a confession, taking all blame for the coup that would become the prosecution's main article of evidence. Dissanayake made no confession, however the day after his arrest he was removed of his post in the police. On 3 June 1963, he was convicted with 11 others out of the 24 accused and sentenced to 10 years in jail and confiscation of property after laws had been modified the government in order to convicted the plotters. The conviction was overruled on appeal to the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

, which ruled that the new Act had denied fair trial, since the new laws only effect the accused.

Family

He and his wife had two daughters and a son. His son T.D.S.A. Dissanayake became a Sri Lanka and UN diplomat going on to become Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia and Egypt. The current Colombo district Member of Parliament Ravi Karunanayake is his grandson. His brother was DIG S.A. Dissanayake, who was the Director of the

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes criminal investigation, detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is disti ...

, he was on the list of those to be arrested during the coup, but in turn played a pivotal role in stopping the coup. S. A. Dissanayake went on to become the

External links and references

Coup of 1962: an inside story, by former diplomat T. D. S. A. Dissanayaka, son of C.C. "Jungle" Dissanayake

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dissanayake, C.C. Sinhalese people Sri Lankan police officers Sri Lankan Christians Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of the Ceylon University College Prisoners and detainees of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan prisoners and detainees Ceylonese Members of the Royal Victorian Order Year of birth missing (living people)