[2] Dharmalingam's son Siddhartan is the leader of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (POLTE), a pro-government paramilitary group and political party.

[8][9] A large group of policemen arrived in riot gear, wearing helmets and carrying batons and shields.

[8][9] Later, as Government Agent M. Srikantha and Superintendent of Police Richard Arndt tried to leave Old Park in a jeep the protesters blocked their way.

Kandiah was carried out and dumped on the ground, Dharmalingam and Thurairatnam were dragged out by their hands and legs whilst Amirthalingam and Naganathan were baton charged.

[14] Dharmalingam and all other TULF MPs boycotted Parliament from the middle of 1983 for a number of reasons: they were under pressure from Sri Lankan Tamil militants not to stay in Parliament beyond their normal six-year term; the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka required them to swear an oath unconditionally renouncing support for a separate state; and the Black July riots in which up to 3,000 Tamils were murdered by Sinhalese mobs.

[15] On the night of 2/3 September 1985 two men went to the house of M. Alalasundaram, former MP for Kopay, at Kalliyankadu, Nallur and kidnapped him at gun point.

[3] The next day Alalasundaram's body was found in a scrub jungle near his home at Kalliyankadu with bullet wounds in the chest and arm.

[20][21] However, the Sri Lankan government and the military have repeatedly blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the assassinations.