Sunday Times 2
The 1907 Attygalle murder case: The Kotelawala connection
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The younger generation has a penchant for old sensational murder cases. The Attygalle murder case is, however, so old that none among the living today may have even heard of it unless one read of it in a book. I had heard of this as it relates to the father of one-time Prime Minister, Sir John Kotelawala, who on his own steam was a sensational character.
My first recollection of Kotelawala goes back about 78 years when we lived in Mt. Lavinia. Two beat cops were trying to bring a suspect under control, but the suspect was offering too much resistance that the cops looked a sorry sight, when a passing car stopped by and a man got off the car, held the suspect in a grip and asked the cops to put the hand cuffs on the suspects hands held behind him, and drove off. Our domestic help who was taking us for a walk made inquiries and learnt it was Kotelawala Mahattaya. Police blood was running in his blood for sure. He was truly the father’s son, as I now get to know of the father.
Much of the facts contained herein have been gleaned from A.C. Alles’ book on Famous Criminal Cases of Sri Lanka.
Francis Dixon Attygalle was the son of Mudaliar Gemoris Attygalle of Madapatha. Mudaliar Attygalle has been a pioneer of the plumbago industry in Ceylon and owned some of the finest plumbago pits in the Kurunegala district. Mudaliar Attygalle died in 1901 when Francis was still a student at Wesley College.
The Mudaliar’s eldest daughter, Alice, had married John Kotelawala (Snr). The Mudaliar had left the bulk of his property to his widow, and owing to the son being a minor and the incapacity of the widow, John Kotelawala had taken over the management of the Attygalle estate.
Born in 1865, John Kotalawala (JK) joined the Police Department and did extremely well, so much so that he was specially complimented by the Governor Sir Arthur Gordon. In 1890, he left the police and proceeded to New South Wales where he learnt the rudiments of gold mining that would make him an expert in plumbago mining in Ceylon. On his return, he rejoined the Police Force and when he finally left the police, he had been the head of the Criminal Investigation Department.
In 1904, Francis Attygalle though still a minor to exercise the powers of a major, had obtained the requisite powers from the Governor after due application with assistance of the senior Attygalles. This gave Francis the power to manage the Attygalle estates. As a result of (JK) being deprived of the management of the family properties, friction had arisen between JK and members of Francis’ family. It is also known that JK had been once made to eat humble pie by Attygalle’s people when he had visited the plumbago mines and tried to assert his power. JK had been biding his time since then.
On the night of December 5, 1906, Francis had been shot when he was in the verandah of his house at Dias Place in Pettah, and he had succumbed to injuries two days later. JK was charged with aiding and abetting the murder while Baron Singho and Singhone Perera were charged with committing the murder.
Although JK had been away in Japan at the time of the murder, it was alleged that he had commissioned his trusted servant Singhone Perera before he left for Japan. Singhone had served under JK as a police constable and they had both left the police force at the same time. Thereafter, Singhone had been employed as the rent collector under JK and lived in one of JK’s houses at Messenger Street.
It is not possible to present all the evidence led in this case, not only due to space restrictions, but the confusing nature of the long drawn out contradictory evidence. If I may quote A. C. Alles, “A mountain of suspicion was created against him and enormous prejudice built up from the very commencement of the trial. He was not allowed to consult his lawyers before his statement was recorded on his return….
“Never was a case heard in Ceylon where there was so much prejudice created against an accused person.” This has been a blunder of the police in many a high-profile case.
JK had been a proud and impulsive man and it is surmised that he felt the inadmissible and prejudicial evidence led by the prosecution was heavily against him and that he did not have a fair chance of an honourable acquittal and rather than face the consequences of a perverse verdict at their hands, he decided to take his own life by taking poison. The case against the other accused is not of interest here.
It is a pity that these two protagonists, Francis Attygalle and John Kotelawala (Snr), both endowed with wealth, business acumen and popularity, having come together through wedlock of JK to the Attygalle family, had clashed over power, instead of jointly forging ahead when the sky was their limit. Both were individually qualified to enhance their business. A power struggle, however, led to their tragedies. How to avoid disastrous power struggles had not been a lesson they had learnt.
In the modern context, of course, there are expert organisations advising on all imaginable concepts of working relationships and growth mindsets, that were not available to JK and FA.
It is highly commendable that JK’s son, Sir John Kotelawala, was able to get all this behind him, become Prime Minister of Ceylon, and be the carefree personality that he was. The Kotelawala Defence Academy, instituted in the Kandawala Estate donated by him, is a fitting monument to his memory.
(The writer is a Retired Senior Superintendent of Police.
He can be contacted at
seneviratnetz@gmail.com -
TP 077 44 751 44)