The body of Commander Sameera Samarakoon, a Sri Lanka Navy officer who died in India while taking part in the BIMSTEC-2026 maritime security exercise, has been returned to Sri Lanka.
Commander Samarakoon served as Senior Electrical and Electronic Engineering Officer aboard SLNS Gajabahu, which had deployed for the exercise. He died on 2 November while receiving treatment at a hospital in Sri Vijayapuram, in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, after a sudden illness, Hiru News reported.
The commanding officer of SLNS Gajabahu, Captain Ashoka Weerasekara, and the ship’s company joined the Indian Navy in paying final respects before the body was flown home on 3 November aboard a special Indian Air Force aircraft.
Service record
Commander Samarakoon joined the Sri Lanka Navy on 14 December 2006 under the 45th officer cadet intake and completed basic training. He was commissioned to the rank of Sub Lieutenant on 14 December 2008.
He served thereafter as an officer of the Navy’s electrical and electronic engineering branch aboard various ships and at shore establishments, receiving successive promotions, and was promoted to Commander on 1 April 2024.
Final rites are to be conducted with full naval honours.
Not reported
The filing does not name the illness or give a cause of death, state Commander Samarakoon’s age, name his next of kin, or say where or when the funeral will be held. It does not report whether SLNS Gajabahu completed its participation in the exercise or returned early, and carries no statement from the Ministry of Defence or the Navy Commander.
No other verified newsroom had carried the repatriation at the time of writing. The Navy’s own media release was not among the sources available for this report.
