He joined the army in the first batch of officers to be trained locally at the Officer Cadets’ School of the Army Training Center on 27 April 1968 and was commissioned into the 4th Field Regiment, Ceylon Artillery as a second lieutenant.
He went on to serve as the commanding officer of the 6th Field Regiment, Sri Lanka Artillery from September 1988 to February 1990 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
[3] At the height of the 1987–1989 JVP insurrection, Dayananda Lokugalapaththi, the Principal of Embilipitiya Maha Vidyalaya, got angry at several school boys for mocking the love affairs of his son with another student.
[5] After a three year trial into the disappearances of the students, the High Court of Ratnapura, found Dayananda Lokugalapaththi and several military personnel of the army camp were found guilty of numerous offences under the Penal Code and sentenced to prison terms of ten years.
The third accused, Brigadier Liyanage was acquitted on the basis there was no direct evidence against him and his acquittal was not appealed by the State Prosecutor.