W . I . M . Seneviratne Lance Corporal W . I . M Seneviratne PWV ( c . 1968 – July 4 , 1996 ) was a Sri Lankan soldier . After joining the Sri Lanka Army in 1987 , Seneviratne served during the Sri Lankan Civil War . On July 4 , 1996 , while providing security to visiting Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva in the northern city of Jaffna , Seneviratne sacrificed his life to thwart a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber from assassinating Minister de Silva . He was posthumously awarded the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya , the highest military decoration awarded for gallantry in Sri Lanka . Background . W . I . M Seneviratne was born to a family of farmers in Kobeigane , Kurunegala . Seneviratne studied up to his Ordinary Level s at Parakrama Maha Vidyalaya in Kobeigana . Having wanted to join the Sri Lanka Army since childhood , Seneviratne enlisted in the Army 1987 , joining the 7th Battalion of the Sri Lanka Light Infantry . After receiving training at the Army Training School in Maduru Oya , Seneviratne served in Trincomalee , Ampara and Jaffna during the course of the Sri Lankan Civil War . He was injured three times , twice at Elephant Pass and once and Palaly . After being under the control of the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( Tamil Tigers ) organization since the late 1980s , Jaffna , the largest city in the north of Sri Lanka was liberated by the Sri Lanka Army in 1995 . Seneviratne was assigned to the 51st Division as a member of the Army Quick Reaction Team ( QRT ) in Jaffna , which consisted of motorbike mounted troops . Suicide attack . On July 4 , 1996 , Seneviratne was assigned to provide protection to the Minister of Housing and Public Utilities , Nimal Siripala de Silva . The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Northern Rehabilitation , de Silva was visiting Jaffna to supervise on - going reconstruction projects . Arriving in Jaffna at 9am , the minister participated in a discussion related to the reconstruction of Jaffna , followed by free book distribution ceremony at the Holy Family Convent , Jaffna . He then proceeded to a new Building Materials Corporation ( BMC ) outlet on Stanley Road , one of a string of such outlets in the north . After the ceremonial opening of the outlet , de Silva proceeded towards his Mitsubishi Pajero vehicle belonging to the Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps to continue onto a meeting with officers in charge of rehabilitation work at the Jaffna Kachcheri . His vehicle was to be driven by the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army 512 Brigade and Brigade Commander for Jaffna , Brigadier Ananda Hamangoda . De Silva was to sit in the passenger seat alongside Brigadier Hamangoda , while Ranjit Godamuduna , chairman of Lanka Cement Ltd , and a body guard were to sit in the back . As de Silva was boarding the vehicle around 12 : 45pm , a seemingly pregnant woman dressed in a white blouse with two bags in her hand moved forward from the crown and approached the entourage . Lance Corporal W . I . M Seneviratne was astride his bike around 20 meters behind de Silva ’ s vehicle , along with another QRT soldier , Private Pushpakumara . Suspecting the woman was a suicide bomber , Seneviratne immediately maneuvered his bike to block her path . With nowhere to go , the woman detonated the explosives strapped onto her body , killing herself and Seneviratne instantly . Aftermath . 23 people were killed in the blast , and 59 were wounded . Among the dead were Brigadier Ananda Hamangoda , de Silva ’ s security office Police Constable Banda and the chairman of Lanka Cement Ranjit Godamuduna , all of whom were inside the same vehicle as the Minister . An experienced planter and a director of a Colombo brokering firm , Godamuduna was spearheading a program to re - commission the Kankesanthurai cement factory , and was in Jaffna setting the stage for the arrival of a group of foreign engineers . Carlyle Dias , a retired Senior Superintendent of Police who came out of retirement to serve as the Civil Affairs Officer ( CAO ) in Jaffna , and BMC official Mr . A . A . Dissanayake were also among 11 civilians killed in the blast . Minister de Silva suffered injuries to his forehead , and was taken to the Palaly military hospital for emergency treatment . He recovered from his injuries , and is currently Minister of Irrigation and Water Management in the government of Sri Lanka . Describing the suicide attack , Sunday Times columnist Iqbal Athas wrote For sacrificing his life to save Minister de Silva , Lance Corporal Seneviratne was recommended for the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya by his Commanding Officer , Lt . Col . K . A . D . A . Karunasekera . The Parama Weera Vibhushanaya is the highest award for gallantry presented by the Sri Lanka Army . On October 10 , 1998 , the medal was presented to Seneviratne ’ s mother by Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga .