Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Housing, Construction and Public Utilities, who was the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Northern Rehabilitation arrived in Jaffna at 9 AM on 4 July 1996 on visit to supervise on-going reconstruction projects.
[2] After the opening ceremony the minister walked to the SLAMC Mitsubishi Pajero vehicle he was using during the visit to head to his next meeting with officers in charge of rehabilitation work at the Jaffna Kachcheri.
[1][2] Just as the minister got into the vehicle around 12:45pm, a seemingly pregnant woman dressed in a white blouse with two bags in her hand moved forward from the crown and approached the entourage.
[3] The blast killed 23 people including Brigadier Ananda Hamangoda, de Silva's security office Police Constable Banda and the chairman of Lanka Cement Ranjit Godamuduna, all of whom were inside the same vehicle as the Minister.
The LTTE would use the techniques it acquired to become one of the world's deadliest guerrilla outfits against its own people, the people whom it vowed to protect in the so-called state of Eelam it pledged to create.For sacrificing his life to save Minister de Silva, Lance Corporal Seneviratne was awarded the highest award for gallantry presented by the Sri Lanka Army Parama Weera Vibhushanaya.