Mapitigama Buddharakkitha (1921−1967) was the chief conspirator of the assassination of fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) S. W. R. D.
[2] Buddharakkitha played an important role in bringing S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike to power in the 1956 parliamentary elections.
[3] Later, he attributed Bandaranaike's failure to aggressively pursue the nationalist reforms as the sole motive to assassinate him.
But it was revealed that the real motive for the assassination came as a result of the Prime Minister's refusal to award business deals, in particular, a government contract for the construction of a sugar factory and government concessions for a shipping company Buddharakkitha planned to set up.
[1] The Sri Lankan Government called Scotland Yard to undertake extensive investigation of the assassination.