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Sri Lanka Army

Defender of the Nation

Major Muthaliff Remembered

SUNDAY (31) marked the 4th death anniversary of yet another fallen hero who was brutally assassinated by the LTTE.

Lt. Col Tuan Nizam Muthaliff was the former Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion Military Intelligence Corps. He was an officer with whose guidance and insights, several successful military operations to attack strategic locations of the LTTE were staged.

“For him duty always came first, even before his family,” said his wife, Lt. Col. Kumudini Muthaliff Amarasinghe. “He was so focused on winning this war, that even being out of the country for a short period made him feel guilty of not being here to finish it. It was everything he wanted. Hence it certainly is a relief for me too, now that the war is finally over.”
 
According to her, he had an inspirational dedication to the work he did. Having been a lynchpin in many of the operations that were successfully conducted, he soon realized the real threat he was in.

“He loved to travel but didn’t want to spend more than the necessary time abroad,” she said. “He said he’d rather die here for a cause knowing he worked as hard as he could to help, rather than be anywhere else with no cause.”

Major Muthaliff was martyred on May 31st 2005 while he was on his way to attend a class at the Kotelawala Defense Academy. He was shot several times by an LTTE terrorist at Polhengoda at 7:45 am, a few minutes after he had left home
 
His gallantry in the battlfield and also through his work in the intelligence unit earned him the Rana Wickrama Padakkama. He also received the Sri Lanka Armed Services long service medal, North and East Operations medal, Purna Bhumi Padakkama, Opearation Wadamarachichi medal and the Riviresa Campaign Service medal.
 
He had been in his 16th year of service at the time of his passing. Major Muthaliff began his military career as a cadet officer in 1986 having undergone training at the Diyatalwala Defence Academy and the Pakistan Military Academy. He was posted as second lieutenant at the 4th Gamunu Watch Regiment of the Army. His committment and dedicatation saw him promoted to Lieutenant in June 1989.

Since 1990 he was continuously attached to the Military Intelligence unit for the Joint Operation Command.

He was then promoted as Captain in 1992 and a major in 1995. He has worked as the Group commander Intelligence Security group in Jaffna as well as Group Commander at the Directorate of Military Intelligence in Colombo. At the time of his death he had been the commanding officer of Sri Lanka’s first Military Intelligence Unit and placed in charge of the Colombo Cell. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.