Vimal left us on July 7, 2010, and was cremated at the Mount Lavinia Cemetery in the presence of a large gathering of friends, relatives and a host of Police personnel. He was given a full Police funeral.
The Police cortege, comprising all ranks, including the Women Police Corps, set out from the Galle Road and drew up at the side entrance of Kanatte, where Police officers of Vimal’s rank (Senior Superintendents of Police) took charge and carried the coffin to the crematorium.
I met affable Vimal for the first time 30 years ago, when I was officer-in-charge of the Ministers’ Security Division of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). At the time, we were housed in a railway building within the Fort Railway Station. Vimal was still a Sub-Inspector of Police, with about seven years of service.
There were some 40 Inspectorate officers under me, but Vimal was closer to me than the others, probably because I was drawn by his sincerity and his professional conduct.
Vimal was a product of St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy. He represented the school at football and cricket. As a Sub-Inspector, he was the personal security officer to the late Nissanka Wijeratna, the then Minister of Education. As an ASP, he was security officer to the late Lakshman Kadirgamar, the affable foreign Minister.
Vimal was a perfect gentleman and an excellent Police officer. He will be looking upon you all from where he is now.
To conclude this tribute to my dear friend, I quote the English Bard, William Shakespeare:
“His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, ‘This was a man.’ ”
Ananda Jayasena |
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