 On the night of 10 July 1991 over 5000 LTTE fighters surrounded the 600 strong army garrison located at Elephant Pass.The base was known as the gateway to the northern Jaffna Peninsula.Enlisted to the Sri Lankan Army Sinha Regiment Sixth Battalion as a Rifleman, Lance Corporal Gamini Kularatne, along with the rest of his regiment, was tasked with watching for possible LTTE infiltrators.