S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), was assassinated by the Buddhist priest Talduwe Somarama Thero on September 25, 1959, while meeting the public at his private residence, Tintagel, at Rosemead Place in Colombo.

Shot in the chest, abdomen, and hand, Bandaranaike died the following day at Merchant's Ward of the Colombo General Hospital.

Bandaranaike became prime minister after winning the 1956 elections in a landslide, at the head of a four-party coalition with a no-contest pact with the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and the Communist Party of Sri Lanka known as the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) (the Peoples' United Front) which gained a two-thirds majority in parliament on a wave of strong nationalist sentiment.

However, he also divided his time between his country seat at Horagolla and his town house, Tintagel, at Rosemead Place in Colombo.

Around 9.45 AM, Somarama Thero sat down again, and fumbled with the file which he had left on the stool as if to pull out a memorandum, but instead withdrew a .45 Webley Mark VI revolver from his robes and fired twice at point-blank range, hitting Bandaranaike in the chest and abdomen.

Confusion and commotion had broken out, and the police constable on duty at the gate came running in, having been alerted by the sound of gunshots before Ananda Thero came out shouting that the prime minister had been shot.

Bandaranaike ordered restraint and mercy towards Somarama Thero, who was arrested and taken to the Harbour Police Station under armed guard while the prime minister was rushed to the Colombo General Hospital.

"a foolish man dressed in the robes of a monk" When news of the assassination attempt reached parliament, which was in session, Education Minister Wijeyananda Dahanayake requested an adjournment, but a majority of members disagreed.

He instructed parliament to continue, and at 11 AM he declared a state of emergency, bringing the military to full readiness and mobilizing reserves.

Bandaranaike underwent five hours of surgery, which was conducted by Dr. M. V. P. Peries, Dr. P. R. Anthonis, Dr. L. O. Silva, and Dr. Noel Bartholomeusz, before being transferred to the Merchant's Ward.

The inquest, conducted by Colombo Coroner J. N. C. Tiruchelvam, JP, UM, recorded that the death was "due to shock and haemorrhage resulting from multiple injuries to the thoracic and abdominal organs".

The Leader of the House, C. P. de Silva, was in London undergoing medical treatment, having fallen ill after consuming a glass of milk at a cabinet meeting.

[2] Following the inquiry proceedings, Bandaranaike's body was taken to the Parliament building at Galle Face to lie in state for two days.

[3][4] With Somarama Thero in custody, the police started an intensive investigation with a team composed of DIG (CID) D.C.T.

The arrest of Mapitigama Buddharakkitha Thero, the chief priest of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara, put Prime Minister Dahanayake in a difficult position; Dahanayake had, soon after the assassination, arranged for Buddharakkitha to attend Temple Trees to address the nation on Radio Ceylon regarding Bandaranaike.

Another brother, Deputy Inspector General of Police Sydney de Zoysa, was placed on compulsory leave.

The preliminary inquiry found that Vimala Wijewardene had been falsely accused, but the stigma attached to the charges effectively ended her political career.

He had confessed to the murder in his statements to the police and to the chief magistrate, but later changed his plea at the Supreme Court trial.

Vimala Wijewardene was cleared of all charges, but the stigma attached to the case effectively ended her political career.

Although a postmortem examination of Bandaranaike's body was not conducted, Dr P. R. Anthonis recounted the injuries and gave the cause of death.

E. B. Wikramanayake, QC argued that the Capital Punishment (Repeal) Act did not re-introduce the death penalty for conspiracy to commit murder.

All appeals were dismissed but amended the sentences imposed on Buddharakkitha Thero and Jayewardena from death to rigorous life imprisonment.

It rendered null and void the Appeal courts decision to alter death sentence to life imprisonment for those guilty of conspiracy.

The government faced with widespread opposition withdrew the bill on January 25, on the pretext that an appeal to the Privy Council was in progress.

[4][8] Talduwe Somarama Thero thanked his counsel Weeramanthri in open court and later converted to Christianity and was baptized in his cell by the Anglican priest Father Mathew Pieris.

On May 7, 1966, acting on the advice of the Minister of Justice of Dudley Senanayake's government, the Governor General commuted the life imprisonment sentences of Buddharakkitha Thero and Jayewardena to 20 years.

The commission released a report as Sessional Paper III of 1964; with adverse finding of only former Minister Vimala Wijewardene.

One of the major conspiracies are that the murder was carried out by Ossie Corea an underworld kingpin who was imposing as Talduwe Somarama Thero.

The murder weapon, fatal bullet and the Clothing worn by Bandaranaike on that day are on display at the National Museum of Colombo.