Anuruddha Ratwatte  General Anuruddha Leuke Ratwatte (14 July 1938 – 24 November 2011), frequently referred to as Anuruddha Ratwatte, was a Sri Lankan soldier and politician. He was a Cabinet Minister and Deputy Minister of Defence. Born in Kandy to an old Radala family of Harris Ratwatte Dissawa and Mallika Katugaha Kumarihamy, sixth of nine children. Harris Ratwatte was a politician who was a member of the State Council in 1936 to 1947 for Kegalle and United National Party Member of Parliament for Mawanella 1947 to 1952 As a member of the prominent Ratwatte family, he was a cousin of Sirima Ratwatte Bandaranaike. Anuruddha Ratwatte was educated at Trinity College, Kandy, where he played rugby for his school. After completing his schooling, Ratwatte joined the Ceylon Army Volunteer Force as a volunteer officer and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 2nd (V) Battalion, Ceylon Sinha Regiment (2CSR) based in Kandy. He received training in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand in 1961. When not mobilized for active service, Ratwatte served as a volunteer in the Central Ceylon Youth Council, serving as the administrator of the Council office and library in Kandy in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He also had served as the "Acting" Diyawadana Nilame (Chief lay Custodian) of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy during his father's tenure as Diyawadana Nilame and was a former Basnayake Nilame (Lay Custodian) of the Natha Devale, Kandy. Anuruddha Ratwatte entered politics having been elected as a Municipal Councillor in the Kandy Municipal Council in 1966, from his father's party the United National Party. In the late 1960s, he crossed over to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, led by his cousin Sirima Bandaranaike and became the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Chief Organizer for the Sengkadagala Electorate, contesting the 1970 general election from the Sengkadagala Electorate and was defeated by Noel Wimalasena of the United National Party. In 1971, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Ceylon Army Volunteer Force and was appointed commanding officer of the Field Security Detachment, which was tasked with identifying internal treats to safety of the Prime Minister from army officers loyal to the opposition political parties, based Bandaranaike's prior experience in the 1962 attempted coup d'état.