Ranjan Wijeratne

General Ranjan Wijeratne (April 4, 1931 – March 2, 1991) was the former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of foreign affairs, Minister of State for defense (deputy defense minister) and Minister of plantation industries from 1989 to 1991 in President Ranasinghe Premadasa's cabinet.

Early life
Born to Walpola Mudalige George Hercules Wijeratne and Rosalind Maria Senanayake he was educated at S. Thomas' College, Guruthalawa and S. Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia. Wijeratne began a career as a planter, holding many high positions in the tea plantation sector of Sri Lanka. In 1978 he was made Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Research and Chairman of the Agricultural Development Authority. In 1984 Ranjan Wijeratne was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel in the Sri Lanka Rifle Corps with its formation, which was established to provide security to the plantation sector.

Political career
He resigned from all government posts and his commission when he went into active politics in 1988 when he was appointed Chairman of the United National Party, he went on to become the General Secretary of the Party. Wijeratne was appointed from national list to parliament in 1989 and was appointed as cabinet minister of foreign affairs and minister of state for defense by President Ranasinghe Premadasa.

Death
He was assassinated on March 2, 1991, by the LTTE organization using a remote controlled car bomb while he was traveling to his office in Colombo on Havelock Road, during rush hour killing 19 people including the minister and five bodyguards and 13 civilian bystanders. He was known to have a hard line stance towards the LTTE.

Lt. Colonel Ranjan Wijeratne was posthumously promoted to the rank of General and Kotelawala Defence Academy (now Kotelawala Defence University) at its second convocation, conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Law (LLD) (Honoris Causa).

Accusation
In 2008, Tamil Tigers accused that Ranjan Wijeratne tried to kill their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran during the 1990 peace process.