Rajiv Gandhi escapes an attempt on his life by a Sri Lankan Naval Cadet

2021-11-22 608

One from the wildfilmsindia archive - an old incident that has rekindled the memory of many, of a faint recollection of this past incident!

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Wijemuni Vijitha Rohana de Silva (born 1965) was a Sri Lankan sailor and an astrologer. He is noted for his assault on Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 30 July 1987 at President's House, Colombo. It was claimed by some as an attempted assassination. He later contested a general election under the Sihala Urumaya party in 2000.

Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi arrives and inspects a Naval Cadet Assembly. This occurred on July 30, 1987. Rajiv Gandhi was inspecting a Sri Lankan Honor Guard. A Sri Lankan Sinhala Navy soldier hit Gandhi with his rifle butt. Bodyguards rushed to surround Gandhi in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

While the inspection is going on and Rajiv Gandhi passes a cadet who tries to give a blow to the Prime Minister with his service firearm.

The perpetrator is instantly restrained by the Prime Minister's security.


This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM / SR 1080i High Definition, Alexa, SR, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at rupindang @ gmail . com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com.