Dr Munindradasa

Top Defence expert dies

By Sunil Jayasiri

A top explosives and ballistics expert and Defence Advisor Dr. D.A.I.Munindradasa passed away in Israel yesterday following an attack of pneumonia while participating in an official mission.

A senior Defence Ministry official said 41-year-old Dr. Munindradasa, a Senior Lecturer of the Department of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering of the Moratuwa University was a member of Sri Lanka Defence delegation to Tel Aviv to inspect some weapons and to attend a workshop there.

The official also said after being taken seriously ill Dr. Munindradasa had been admitted to a hospital where he was being treated at the ICU before he passed way around dawn yesterday.

Meanwhile following a request from the family, Sri Lanka authorities agreed to hold the postmortem of Dr. Munindradasa in Sri Lanka. "The body would be brought down in a special box for the post mortem," Defence officials added.

Born in 1966, Dr. Munindradasa was a holder of B.Sc,Eng.(Moratuwa), Ph.D(Liverpool) and expert of Semiconductor Material, Wildlife related electronics, Mechatronics, Automotive electronics, Acoustics

He had been with the defence ministry since 1990 and during President Chandrika Kumaratunga's regime he effected the saving of a large sum of public monies when he repaired some Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers (MBRL), which were about to be sent abroad for repairs.

A full inquiry into his death will be held after his remains are flown to Sri Lanka soon.