Assassination of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike

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Assassination of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
Official portrait of S.W.R.D. Bandaranayaka
Location	Tintagel, Rosmead Place, Colombo, Ceylon
Date	September 25, 1959; 64 years ago (1959-09-25) 9:45 a.m.
Target	S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
Attack type	Lone gunman
Weapons	.45 Webley Mark VI revolver
Deaths	1 (S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike)
Injured	1
Perpetrator	Talduwe Somarama Thero

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), was assassinated by the Buddhist priest Talduwe Somarama Thero on September 25, 1959, while meeting the public at his private residence, Tintagel, at Rosemead Place in Colombo. Shot in the chest, abdomen, and hand, Bandaranaike died the following day at Merchant's Ward of the Colombo General Hospital.^[1] He was the first Sri Lankan national leader to be assassinated, which led to his widow Sirimavo Bandaranaike (Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike) becoming the world's first female prime minister.