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9 including Duminda Silva’s driver remanded over nightclub bouncer’s killing
Sampath Tharindu Cooray (21) was two months into his job as a ‘bouncer’ at a nightclub in Athurugiriya last Saturday, when a group claiming to be supporters of a UPFA Parliamentarian in the Colombo district, ordered the staff to sell them liquor. This was long after the bar had closed.
Apeksha
Tharindu and his colleagues refused as the bar had already closed. An argument ensued and the two groups exchanged blows.The visitors withdrew, threatening to return. On the following day, at around 9.30 p.m., about 15 men armed with clubs and knives, arrived.
Their target appeared to be Tharindu. They called him on his mobile and lured him into the compound of the nightclub and assaulted him. Within half-an-hour of the brutal assault which left Tharindu with serious injuries including knife wounds, he was rushed to the Athurugiriya Police Station, where he was pronounced dead.
Nine suspects including MP Duminda Silva’s driver, Bandara, were arrested and produced before Kaduwela Magistrate Wasantha Jinadasa who remanded them till December 12. Tharindu’s sister, Apeksha Cooray told the Sunday Times that the family was opposed to his taking the job as it was risky. “Our brother told us not to worry as he would not create any problems,” she said.
“We were about to shift to a new house in Meegoda, when we heard about the incident on Sunday night,”she said.
“We are demanding justice from the police over this incident,” she said. Athurugiriya Police Officer-in-Charge Suneth Shantha told the Sunday Times that the iron rods, clubs and the knife used in the attack have been recovered along with the vehicles in which the gang arrived.
The victim.
He said that some of the gang members have previous charges including attempted murder pending against them.“ They are known to have created problems at nightclubs,” he said.