Chaminda Ruwan Yakandawala

Sergeant Yakandawala Liyanarachchige Chaminda Ruwan Yakandawala was a Sri Lankan soldier. A member of the Sri Lanka Army Military Police he was selected to serve in the Security Division of the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, Sarath Fonseka. On April 25, 2006, he blocked the path of a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber tasked with assassinating Fonseka. Unable to proceed, the suicide bomber detonated the explosives strapped around her waist, killing Yakandawala and eight others in the process. Yakandawala's quick actions however saved the life of Sarath Fonseka, who would go on to play a crucial role in the ultimate defeat of the Tamil Tigers and the ending of the Sri Lankan Civil War.

Background Yakandawala Liyanarachchige Chaminda Ruwan Yakandawala was born in the village of Watawala on November 23, 1971, the third of four children. He attended Ginigathena Madhya Maha Vidyalaya until his GCE Ordinary Level examinations, after which he applied to join both the Sri Lanka Army and the Sri Lanka Police. Selected to both services, he decided to join the Sri Lanka Army, and enlisted in October 1991.

In 1994, Yakandawala married Nishanthi Kumburegama, who was a physical training instructor with the Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps. They had three children together. but his life was saved following emergency surgery at the Colombo National Hospital. He regained consciousness on April 30.

After recovered from his injuries, Fonseka resumed duties as Commander of the Army on July 31, 2006. He then led the Sri Lanka Army on a three-year-long campaign to defeat the Tamil Tigers and end the decades long Sri Lankan Civil War. Under Fonseka, the Sri Lanka Army achieved its goal in May 2009, wiping out the Tamil Tigers and killing all major leaders of the organization, thereby ending the Sri Lankan Civil War.