V. M. Panchalingam

V. Muthiah Panchalingam (c. 1934 – 1 May 1989) was a Sri Lankan civil servant. He was assassinated by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

V. M. Panchalingam
3rd District Secretary for Jaffna
In office 14 July 1984 – 1 May 1989
Preceded by	D. Nesiah
Succeeded by	Anton Alfred
Personal details
Born	c. 1934
Died	(1989-05-01)1 May 1989 Nallur, Sri Lanka
Alma mater	Jaffna Hindu College Ananda College
Profession	Civil servant
Ethnicity	Sri Lankan Tamil

Early life

Panchalingam was the son of Muthiah, a businessman from Kandy in central Ceylon.^[1] He was educated at Jaffna Hindu College and Ananda College.^[1] After school he joined the University of Ceylon, graduating with an honours BSc degree in chemistry.^[1]

Career

After university Panchalingam worked as a research officer in the Rubber Research Institute before joining the Ceylon Civil Service in 1957 a District Land Officer.^[1][2] He served in Mannar, Kandy and Vavuniya.^[2] He was later Assistant Government Agent and Additional Government Agent (1979) in Jaffna.^[1][2] He became District Secretary for Jaffna District in 1984.^[1][2]

Death

Panchalingam was shot dead on 1 May 1989 at his brother's house in Nallur.^[1][2] A youth with an AK-47 rifle had fired 23 bullets into Panchalingam's body, eight into his head.^[2] The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam claimed responsibility for Panchalingam's killing.^[2]