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Kalutara, Piliyandala shootings suspects escape to India by boat
View(s):Dubai-based drug kingpin “Matara Madush” masterminded shootings
According to investigations conducted so far, key suspects involved in the shooting of Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) officers in Piliyandala (May 9) and the Kalutara prison bus attack (February 27), had fled to India by boat, while attention was focused on the airports. In the Kalutara prison bus incident, police even deployed special teams to both the Bandaranaike and Mattala International Airports, over information the suspects were planning to flee the country.
Despite these efforts, at least two suspects, including the main suspect, managed to slip through the police net via the sea route. This came to light after Chennai Airport authorities arrested “Angoda Lokka,” the main suspect wanted in the Kalutara attack, and an associate, trying to fly out of India, using fake passports. Local police are now working with their Indian counterparts and through Interpol, to extradite the suspects here, Police Spokesman Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Priyantha Jayakody said.
It has also come to light that, the two shootings were masterminded by Samaraweera Arachchige Madhush Lakshitha, alias “Matara Madush,” a notorious drug kingpin sought by police for years and thought to be operating mainly from Dubai.
Thirteen suspects arrested in connection with the Kalutara prison bus attack are currently in remand. Four of them are accused of being directly involved in the attack, which left five prisoners, including underworld leader “Samayan” and two prison guards dead.
Police have also identified the gunman who ambushed a group of PNB officers, allegedly lured into a trap, in Piliyandala on May 9, as an Army deserter named Dikpitiya Arachchige Asitha Noel Kumara of Habaraduwa, who fled to India by sea. A PNB officer died in that attack, while an 11-year-old girl, injured in the attack, succumbed to her injuries later in hospital.
It has now emerged that he escaped in a boat from Talaimannar to Tamil Nadu, on the night of May 16, a week after the attack. This was disclosed by Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake in Parliament earlier this week.
Police analysis of mobile phone communications, has also revealed that the PNB informant, Mahir Mohammad Mohomadu Nawaz, who allegedly lured the officers into the trap, also fled to Tamil Nadu with Noel Kumara, the Minister further revealed.
One of the key suspects already in custody over the Kalutara shooting
Minister Ratnayaka also stated that “Madush” is also an accused in February’s Kalutara prison bus attack and the 2006 murder of former Southern Province Minister Danny Hittetiya.
Meanwhile, on May 21, the Mirihana Special Investigation Unit arrested two men and a 44-year-old woman from Ahangama, on charges of aiding and abetting Noel Kumara. The female suspect is the wife of Noel Kumara, while the two male suspects, both aged 22 years, are also Ahangama residents. All three suspects are also accused of destroying evidence, providing false information and harboring the suspect.