News
|
||||
|
Shotgun
justice
The youth dressed in a black trouser and white shirt -now identified as Chaminda Udaya Kumara- mingles with other law students and lawyers and moves to the upper flour of the Magistrates' Court where Amarasinghe is due to be produced in connection with a killing at Borella. He positions himself inside Magistrate’s Court No. 6 where Magistrate Mohamed Irshadi is sitting. Soon Amarasinghe heavily guarded by prison guards is brought in. As the case is set aside for another day, prison guards led by a Chief Jailor get ready to move Amarasinghe to Magistrate’s Court No. 4 just two rooms away from No. 6. Amarasinghe is to be taken to Court room No. 4 for a hearing regarding a killing at Welikada. As Amarasinghe gets ready to leave, the assailant jumps up from the bench he was seated on and shoots him at point blank range. The victim runs a few yards, collapses, gets up again, runs a few more yards and collapses again. The 28-year-old assassin brandishing a brand new Chinese- made pistol grabs a bystander and threatens anyone who dares come near him. In an apparent move to escape he ends up in the record room only to find there's no other exit. In the mayhem he opens fire injuring two bystanders, one of them being Mohamed Naufer from Hulftsdorp who is there to meet a lawyer. The assassin's struggle is short-lived as a Lance Corporal of the Sri Lanka National Guard overpowers him. The assailant is handed over to Sub Inspector Perera of Foreshore Police while the weapon is taken into custody. The assassin had apparently concealed the weapon in the boots he was wearing. He had posed off as a law student to avoid being checked as it was customary not to check lawyers and law students when they entered courts. The suspect had apparently visited the same location the previous day as Dhammika was being produced in connection with the case involving Mr. Sumathipala. Dhammika had walked out of courts covering his face with a handkerchief amidst heavy security cover including prison guards and police. Dhammika's assassin was grilled by the Colombo Crime Division led by Senior superintendent of Police (SSP), D.D.S. Lugoda. He was produced before a magistrate and remanded. The suspect had claimed that he killed Dhammika to avenge the killing of former Presidential Security Division (PSD) police constable, Beddagana Sanjeewa. He claimed to be a relative of Beddagana Sanjeewa. But police say they are yet to unearth evidence suggesting any relationship. The suspect Udaya Kumara had been attached to the Artillery unit and deserted ranks two months back. A resident of Grand Pass and father of two, he had been arrested by police for the possession of illegal arms. Udaya Kumara is reported to have been involved with an underworld group in Grandpass area and police are looking into this connection. The
profile of an alleged killer One of the most famous or infamous killings he was accused of was that of former Presidential Security Division (PSD) police constable Beddagana Sanjeewa. Dhammika's brother, Chinthaka Perera was a victim of underworld gang rivalry in 1996. Police say Dhammika's family had been involved in gang warfare and underworld activities since the late 1960's His mother is the brother of Noel Amarasinghe who was the chief suspect in the Kollupitiya Tavern robbery case in 1966 in which the second accused was Nawala Nihal who turned out to be another notorious criminal. Dhammika and his brother resided with their uncle in Kotte and it was inevitable that he would have been exposed to underworld activities, police say. One of his close associates was Arambewela Don Upali alias Sotthi Upali who later turned out to be his bitter rival. A bitter feud between this rival faction led to the brutal killing of 16 members of Dhammika's family including his sister. With the change of the political climate in 1994, Dhammika and his brother Chinthaka gained the upperhand and were backed by a host of other underworld gang members including Kalu Ajith and Christopher Barry. However in 1996 Kalu Ajith was allegedly accused of killing Chinthaka in Grandpass. A plot to kill Dhammika at that time had reportedly failed and went into hiding living a secluded life in Raddolugama. He allegedly plotted the killing of Kalu Ajith and two others who were burnt inside their own vehicle. Dhammika reportedly spent some time in Singapore as he was a target of many rival factions. He was also accused of travelling to London on a forged passport in 1999 during the Cricket World Cup. Last year he surrendered to courts and was in remand custody until his killing on Friday. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
