On December 10, 2011, the Supreme Court issued a writ of habeas corpus to the then Secretary of Defense, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, requesting his presence on December 15, 2024, to provide evidence regarding the disappearance of two political activists, Lalith Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganandan, who went missing in Jaffna.
On September 27, 2019, the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court had previously issued a similar summons. However, Rajapaksa, then serving as President, appealed to the Court of Appeal, claiming he could not provide evidence due to life threats. Consequently, as President, he was not summoned to testify.
Now, since he no longer holds the presidency, the petitioners filed a motion in the Supreme Court, which considered the life threats against him but still ordered him to appear on December 15, 2024 before the Supreme Court.
Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganandan were political activists affiliated with a faction later known as the Frontline Socialist Party that split from the People’s Liberation Front (JVP). The two young men were last seen on December 9, 2011, while organizing a press conference in Jaffna to pressure the government to find individuals who had disappeared due to the war. Lalith had long been under threat from the security forces for his advocacy against disappearances and human rights violations.
According to journalist Shalika Wimalasena, the two were last seen leaving Kugan’s home in Avarangal, Jaffna, around 5 PM on December 9. No information about them was received afterward. Kugan’s wife later found the husband’s motorcycle at the Achchuveli police station on December 14. However, there were conflicting accounts from the police and villagers regarding how the bike was found. Police informed Kugan’s wife that the motorcycle had been taken into custody by Kopay police on December 13 near the Kopay Kovil, although residents claim they had reported its presence to the local Grama Niladhari (village officer) on the 9th. Evidence was presented that Lalith and Kugan were stopped by a group traveling in a van and two motorcycles near Nirveli on the Jaffna-Pont Pedro Road, but further investigations stalled, possibly due to fear from eyewitnesses who knew the perpetrators.
Lalith, born to a tea estate worker’s family in Avissawella, had long been a full-time political activist with the JVP, and Kugan Muruganandan, who disappeared with him, was also a political activist and father of one. Kugan had previously been associated with the LTTE but left the group around 1999.
The disappearance gained wider attention when Waruna Deepthi Rajapaksha, a former JVP parliamentarian and current candidate for the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) in Gampaha, posted on Facebook on December 9, 2021. He wrote:
“After several days of Lalith’s disappearance, uncertainty about his life weighed heavily on my mind. At that time, two journalist friends from India and Nepal who were working undercover gave Udul Premaratne (a lawyer and activist) and me periodic updates about where Lalith and Kugan were held. Even though the information was distressing, the belief that they were still alive drove Udul and me to contact various organizations and individuals we knew. Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon (A Governor and President’s Director General of Public Relations later) even arranged a discussion with all members of the European Union.”
On December 15, 2009, Cabinet spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella stated to the media: “Lalith Kumar and Kugan Muruganandan have not disappeared; they are alive. They have not been detained illegally. They will soon be presented to a magistrate by the police or military and appropriate legal steps will be taken.” However, no further information was provided as promised. In April 2012, after a tip-off to human rights activist Ruki Fernando that the two were being held at the police welfare building in Pettah, Colombo, the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission conducted an inspection, but they were not found there.
Investigations into the disappearances of Lalith and Kugan have been on hold for over 15 years. Many activists hope that the government, formed by the National People’s Power (NPP) after their victory in the 2024 presidential election, will reopen these investigations. Lalith Kumar Weeraraj was an activist of the JVP, main partner of the NPP alliance.
