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 ...

Tuan Nizam Muthaliff, RWP, MI (July 12, 1966 – May 31, 2005) was a

Sri Lanka Army The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; ...

officer and

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a member of the intelligence field employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a r ...

who, while serving as the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

, 1 Military Intelligence Corps, was assassinated by the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

(LTTE) during the ceasefire and peace process.

Early life and education

Born to a Malay family in

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; , ; , ), historically known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee District and major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast o ...

, Muthaliff was educated at D. S. Senanayake College, Colombo where he excelled in both studies and sports.

Military career

Early career

Having completed his schooling, Muthaliff joined the

as a cadet officer in June 1986. He first underwent basic training at the Sri Lanka Military Academy in

Diyatalawa Diyatalawa (), (), meaning ) is a former garrison town in the central highlands of Sri Lanka, in the Badulla District of Uva Province. It is situated at an altitude of and has become a popular destination for local holiday makers. It is home ...

and subsequently received officer training at the

Pakistan Military Academy Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) is a military academy located nearby Kakul village in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Established in October 1947, it is the only service academy in Pakistan that trains cadets to serve as army of ...

. On completing his training, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 4th Battalion,

Gemunu Watch The Gemunu Watch (GW) ("King Dutugemunu's Own") is a infantry regiment of the Sri Lanka Army, formed with troops from the Sri Lanka Light Infantry, Ceylon Light Infantry and the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment, Ceylon Sinha Regiment in 1962. It has be ...

and took part in military operations such as the Vadamarachchi Operation. He was promoted to the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on June 2, 1989.

Military intelligence

From 1990, he was attached to the Military Intelligence Unit of the Joint Operations Command which later became the Directorate of Military Intelligence and he was transferred to the Military Intelligence Corps with its formation in 1990. He was promoted to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on July 2, 1992, and afterwards to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on July 2, 1995. During this time he had served as general staff officer III (Intelligence) at Army Headquarters;

officer commanding The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually giv ...

, Military intelligence training section; group commander, Intelligence Security Group in

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

for about three and a half years, group commander at the Directorate of Military Intelligence in Colombo for about three years since 1997 and general staff officer I (intelligence) in

Vavuniya Vavuniya (, ) is a city in Vavuniya District in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. The municipality is administered by an Municipal Council. The town has been known since ancient times, but being a heavily forested area, less than 100,000 people ...

from 2000 to 2001. He underwent several foreign training courses, such as the Intelligence Staff Course and Counter Intelligence Course at the

Directorate General of Forces Intelligence The Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (), commonly known by its acronym DGFI, is the defense intelligence agency of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, tasked with collection, collation and evaluation of strategic and topographic informatio ...

, Bangladesh; the Junior Command Course at the Army War College, Mhow India; South Asian Peace Keeping Course in Hawaii and the International Intelligence course in the USA. He was appointed

, 1 Military Intelligence Corps in November 2004. At the time of death he was also head of the Colombo Cell. Muthaliff had provided vital intelligence for major military operations such as Operation Balavegaya, Operation Jayasikurui and provided Brigadier Janaka Perera with critical information forewarning him of the LTTE attack on Weli Oya. The LTTE had attempted to assassinate Muthaliff in two previous occasions, with gunmen in Vavuniya and with a suicide bomber in Jaffna.

Assassination

Muthaliff was shot dead in his car by LTTE gunmen at Polhengoda junction in

Narahenpita Narahenpita is a municipal ward of Colombo. Located at the South-Eastern corner and served by the Kelani Valley Railway Line The Kelani Valley railway line in Sri Lanka, covering the breadth of Colombo District. The line is owned, maintained, ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

at 7:45 AM on 31 May 2005. He was traveling from his home in Manning Town, Narahenpita to the Kotelawala Defence Academy, where he was taling a course in computer science. Traveling in an unmarked civilian car with a civilian chauffeur provided by the army, gunmen trailed him on a motorcycle, when it stopped at the traffic lights at the Polhengoda junction in front of the military police headquarters they shot Muthaliff 18 times while he sat in the rear seat of the car. The Sri Lanka Army accused the LTTE of the assassination. In recognition of his service to the army, Muthaliff was posthumously promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel with effect from 1 May 2005 and to the rank 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 ...

with effect from 31 May 2005. He was buried at the burial grounds of the Dehiwala Muhaideen Grand Jumma Mosque for Janaza on 1 June 2005 with full military honors.

Investigation

Police

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 ...

investigations into the attacks on Generals

Sarath Fonseka Field Marshal Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka (born 18 December 1950) is a Sri Lankan retired army officer. He was the eighteenth Commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 2005 to 2009, and under his command the Sri Lankan Army ended the 26- ...

and Parami Kulatunga, discovered LTTE links with

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

groups in Colombo and military personnel who had collaborated with the LTTE for money. Major Manamendra Dassaendra Dassnayake was convicted of aiding and abetting the LTTE in the assassinations of Lieutenant General Parami Kulathunga, Colonel Tuan Rizli Meedin and Colone Tuan Nizam Muthaliff.

Awards and decorations

Muthaliff gallantry in the battlefield and his work in intelligence earned him several awards, including the

Rana Wickrama Padakkama The Rana Wickrama Padakkama (RWP, Combat Gallantry Medal) (Sinhala language, Sinhala: රණ වික්‍රම පදක්කම) is awarded to Sri Lankan military service personnel serving in both the regular- and volunteer forces as a rew ...

. He also received the

Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal __NOTOC__ The Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා සන්නද්ධ සේවා දීර්ඝ සේවා පදක්කම ''Śrī Laṃkā ārakśaka sēvā dhīrgha sēvā padakkama'') i ...

, North and East Operations Medal, Purna Bhumi Padakkama, Operation Wadamarachchi Medal, Riviresa Campaign Services Medal, and the 50th Independence Anniversary Commemoration Medal for his military service.

Family

Muthaliff married Kumudini Amarasinghe Muthaliff, who retired from the Sri Lanka Army in 2009 as a Lieutenant Colonel having served as the commanding officer, Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps. They had a daughter, Sarah and son, Maalik.

References

SPUR

The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, No. 1,505 – FRIDAY, JULY 06, 2007, PART I : SECTION (I) – GENERAL

External links

Official Website of Sri Lanka ArmyMinistry of Defence, Sri LankaMIC-Military Intelligence Corps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muthaliff, Tuan Nizam 1966 births 2005 deaths Sri Lankan colonels Sri Lankan intelligence operatives Alumni of D. S. Senanayake College Pakistan Military Academy alumni Assassinated military personnel Assassinated Sri Lankan military personnel Gemunu Watch officers Military Intelligence Corps officers Sri Lankan Malays Sri Lankan Muslims People killed during the Sri Lankan civil war Army War College, Mhow alumni