The Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) (Sinhala: දිගු දුර විහිදුම් බලකාය Digu Dura Vihidum Balakaya) is a Covert Operation unit of Sri Lanka Army.
Colonel Raj Vijayasiri of the Special Forces regiment is credited as the main figure who introduced the DPU concept first to Sri Lankan army.
During the war, LRRP teams were got the HUMINT support from disgruntled Ex-tiger Members in order to carried out operations against LTTE.
LRRP battalions from Special Forces regiment of Sri Lanka Army have been most successful in carrying out assassinations on high-ranking members of the LTTE.
[2] The existence of LRRP was revealed as a result of a raid on 2 January 2002, when a police team led by SP Kulasiri Udugampola raided an LRRP safehouse in Athurugiriya, a suburb close to the capital, Colombo under the belief of an assassination plot on the leaders of the recently elected United National Party government.
Attempts by the military hierarchy to get the arrested personnel released failed, and Army commander Lt. Gen. Lionel Balagalla issued a public statement revealing the true nature of this unit.
The arrested personnel were released only after interrogation on 13 January, under orders from Defence Minister Tilak Marapana, who expressed outrage over the police raid.
The newly elected government did not take any significant measures to stop it, and requests made by the state intelligence agencies were ignored on the basis that it will affect the ceasefire.
As the public controversy on this incident and the killings continued, President Chandrika Kumaratunga appointed a Commission of Inquiry to probe the safehouse raid.
[10] It was also accused of assassinating Father M. X. Karunaratnam, the chairman of the Pro-LTTE North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR).
[10] Before the 2002 ceasefire agreement was signed, the government denied allegations from the LTTE that military deep-penetration units were targeting their leaders.
[15] LRRP units have also made failed assassination attempts on several other LTTE leaders including Col. Karuna, Col. Jeyam and Brig.