Allegedly drafted into the conspiracy by Mapitigama Buddharakkitha Thero, the chief incumbent of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara,[4] Somarama Thero reluctantly consented to assassinate the Prime Minister "for the greater good of his country, race and religion".[citation needed] Buddharakkitha Thero attributed Bandaranaike's failure to aggressively pursue the nationalist reforms as the motive to eliminate him.[4] Others attributed the assassin's motives to his obligation to Buddharakkitha Thero, together with Bandaranaike's delay in fulfilling his campaign promises to Buddhism.[5]
The date was set to 25 September 1959, when Somarama Thero was to visit the Prime Minister at his home and shoot him at point blank range.[6] His saffron robes gave him free access to Tintagel, the private residence of Bandaranaike, in Rosmead Place, Colombo. As the Premier commenced his routine meetings with the public, Somarama waited patiently for his turn. When the monk's presence was announced to him, Bandaranaike rose to greet him in the traditional Buddhist manner. The assassin then pulled out a revolver hidden in his robes and fired at the prostrate Prime Minister. Somarama was injured in firing between himself and the Prime Minister's bodyguards.[citation needed]
Somarama Thero then faced trial, along with four other involved in the conspiracy. It was a hopeless case, and in spite of a resourceful defense the jury unanimously found Somarama Thero guilty of the capital offense. Before sentencing him to death, the trial judge, Justice T.S. Fernando, QC, CBE, told Somarama Thero he had a "streak of conscience as he did not attend court in his saffron robes."[citation needed] The chief conspirator, Mapitigama Buddharakkitha Thero and H.P. Jayawardena, a businessman closely associated with him, were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.[citation needed] Bandaranaike had suspended capital punishment, but after his death the government had it restored. In an apparent blunder by the draftsman, the law re-establishing the death penalty failed to include conspiracy to murder.[citation needed] As a consequence, while Somarama Thero would hang, the two chief conspirators escaped with life sentences.[citation needed]
Somarama Thero was hanged at Welikada Prison on 6 July 1962. He gave up his robes a fortnight before his hanging and, two days before his execution, was baptized as a Christian by an Anglican priest.[7]
