List of attacks attributed to the LTTE, 1970s

Main article: List of attacks attributed to the LTTE

The following is a list of chronological attacks attributed to the LTTE in 1970s related to the Sri Lankan Civil War. The deadliest attacks for the decade were in 1979.

Attacks in chronological order

1972

Date	Attack	Location	Sinhalese	Tamils	Muslims	Death toll	Sources
September 17	A carnival held at the Duraiappah Stadium is bombed by the Tamil New Tigers.	Jaffna, Jaffna District		unknown			[1]

1974

• Throughout 1974, the Tamil New Tigers and other Tamil rebel groups launched several bomb attacks targeting the Mayor of Jaffna and Jaffna civilians. ^[1]

These include:

• hands bombs lobbied into a jeep at the Kankesanturai Police Station^{[ citation needed ]}
• dynamite ignited at the home of V. Ponnampalam, a member of the Communist Party ^[2]
• dynamite thrown into Chenkathanai Railway Station causing extensive damage^{[ citation needed ]}
• bombs exploded in the Grand Bazar, Jaffna^{[ citation needed ]}
• CTB buses set on fire ^[1]

1975

Date	Attack	Location	Sinhalese	Tamils	Muslims	Death toll	Sources
July 27	Mayor of Jaffna Alfred Duraiappah is shot to death by LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in the first major attack by the group.	Jaffna, Jaffna District		1		1	[3] [4] [5] [6]

1976

1976, saw a series of brazen robberies committed by the LTTE.

In March 1976, LTTE members robbed the People's Bank at Puttur of Rs. 668,000 in cash and jewellery. ^[7] This was followed by raids on Multi-Purpose Co-Operative Services in Puloly and Madagal.^{[ citation needed ]}

1977

Date	Attack	Location	Sinhalese	Tamils	Muslims	Death toll	Sources
February 14	PC Karunandhi is shot to death for investigating crimes committed by the LTTE.	Maviddapuram, Jaffna District		1		1	[1]
May 18	Two officers named Shanmuganathan are killed for the same reason	Inuvil, Jaffna District		2		2	[1]

1978

Date	Attack	Location	Sinhalese	Tamils	Muslims	Death toll	Sources
January 24	M. Canagaratnam is shot in the head by Uma Maheswaran and other LTTE members for switching party affliction from the TULF to the UNP.	Kollupitiya, Colombo District		1			[1] [8]
April 7	Inspector Bastianpillai and Sub-Inspector Perampalan are shot to death along with their chauffeur while chasing down Maheshawan. Bastianpillai's body is then mutilated and their car is set on fire after its radio equipment is taken.	Murunkan, Mannar District		3		3	[1]
May	Inspector Pathmanathan is killed in his home.	Jaffna, Jaffna District		1		1	[1]
June	Inspector Kumaru is killed while shopping.	Valvettithurai, Jaffna District		1		1	[1]
December 5	Police Constable Kingsley Perera and Satchithanadan are shot to death during a raid on the People's Bank at Nallur. The LTTE robbed the bank of over 1 million rupees in cash.	Nallur, Jaffna District	1	1		2	[1]

• In July, 4 robberies are carried out.
  • 2 from CTB buses
  • 1 from a van
  • Rs. 15,000 from a travelling salesman ^[1]
• In September a CTB bus is set on fire. ^[1]
• Later schoolteacher salaries were robbed in Point Pedro. ^[1]
• On September 7, 1978 a bomb is planted on an Air Ceylon plane flying from Kankesanturai to Colombo. ^{[9] [10] [11]} It exploded after landing while in the hangar. ^{[12] [1] [13]}
• Some time later the Kopai Multi-Purpose Co-Operative Society was robbed of Rs. 30,000 using a stolen vehicle. The owner of the vehicle was thrown into his luggage compartment. ^[1]

1979

Date	Attack	Location	Sinhalese	Tamils	Muslims	Death toll	Sources
	S. A. Emmanuel of Chankanai, Thaadi Thangarajah of Kondavil, A. Krishnagol of Velvettiturai, T. Poopalasingham of Chunnakam and A. Sivarajah of Thondamannar are executed by the LTTE for providing evidence against them to the police.	Jaffna District		5		5	[1]
	PC Gnanasambandan, PC Sivanesan, Inspector Guruswamy, S. Swarnarajah and his wife are executed by the LTTE.	Jaffna District		5		5	[1]

See also

• List of (non-state) terrorist incidents

References

1. Dissanayaka, T. D. S. A. (January 2005). War Or Peace in Sri Lanka. Popular Prakshan. ISBN   978-81-7991-199-0.^{[ page needed ]}
2. "2019 Easter Massacre in Sri Lanka – Brown Pundits". 2019-04-23. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
3. TELEGRAPH, COLOMBO (2016-05-12). "The Murder Of Alfred Duraiappah". Colombo Telegraph. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
4. "Duraiappah, the first political victim of militants in North". The Hindu. 2016-06-18. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2025-08-05.
5. Staff, T. N. M. (2016-06-18). "Murdered by LTTE Prabhakaran, feted by PM Modi: Story of Jaffna's Alfred Duraiappah". The News Minute. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
6. "Duraiappah makes historic return to Sri Lanka | Daily FT". www.ft.lk. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
7. "LankaWeb – Chronology of Tamils taking firearms since 1950s" . Retrieved 2025-08-05.
8. Perera, Jehan (2022-08-23). "Reliance On Repression Will Worsen Current Crisis". Colombo Telegraph. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
9. Ranter, Harro. "Unlawful Interference Hawker Siddeley HS-748-212 Srs. 2 4R-ACJ, Thursday 7 September 1978". asn.flightsafety.org. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
10. "Air Ceylon: A recap of former glory | Daily FT". www.ft.lk. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
11. "Avro 748 | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives". www.baaa-acro.com. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
12. "The Sunday Times Plus Section". www.sundaytimes.lk. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
13. Lankaloka, Dinuka (2020-04-12). "Air Ceylon • Ceylon Guide". Ceylon Guide. Retrieved 2025-08-05.