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Lankan Tamil shot dead in UK
From Neville de Silva in London
A 27-year old Sri Lanka Tamil was shot dead last Sunday night as he walked on Queensbury Road in Kingsbury, London, news reports said. The youth, identified as Douglas Yogarasa from Sri Lanka where his immediate family lives, was found by a member of the public who called the police around 9.30 p.m. He was found dead at the scene when police arrived.

At the post mortem examination held at Northwick Park Hospital next day the cause of death was given as gunshot wounds to the head and body. Yogarasa was said by the police to be single, unemployed and living alone in Kingsbury.
This is another of several killings and grievous crimes in the Tamil community that have shocked the law-abiding members within it and have led the police to set up a special Tamil Crimes Unit inside the Metropolitan Police.

Police are calling for witnesses to the killing or those who might have information that would help them in their inquiries. At least 10 killings are said to have taken place in the last four years. According to the Harrow Times a small white van was seen leaving the scene at 9.50 p.m. The van was distinctive as it had tubes fitted to the roof running the length of the vehicle.

The tubes were said to be white, around six inches in diameter and of the type commonly used by plumbers to store copper piping. Detective Chief Inspector Dave Cobb of the Specialist Crime Directorate is quoted in the newspaper as saying “We urge anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information about the white van to contact the police”.

Police are said to be keeping an open mind regarding the motive for the killing.
However the word on the Tamil street is that it could be a gang killing as rival Tamil gangs or groups are said to be targeting each other for political or essentially criminal reasons as they jockey for position and influence.

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