Police report on Kadir killing to AG for indictment

Indian PM also shows interest in investigation

A Police investigation report identifying five suspects in the assassination of former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar last year was handed over to the Attorney General for indictment on Thursday, over a year after the incident.

The report handed over by Colombo Crimes Division Director SSP Sarath Lugoda has identified Muttiah Sahadevan alias Devan, the gardener employed by the late Mr. Kadirgamar’s neighbour Lakshman Thalayasingham, from whose house the assassination was carried out, as one of the suspects.

A trishaw driver who befriended the Thalayasingham gardener also has been identified as a suspect.

Among the charges likely to be brought against the suspects, based on the Police investigations report, are those of conspiracy to murder and abetting a person unknown to the prosecution to commit murder.

SSP Lugoda said that while investigations into the assassination are continuing with more suspects under investigation, the report had been handed over so that action could be taken against the suspects already identified. The suspects who are in Police custody had earlier filed applications in the Colombo High Courts seeking to be released, but their applications were refused.

The Sunday Times learns that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made inquiries about the progress of the investigations when he met President Mahinda Rajapaksa during his visit to India a fortnight ago.

Mr. Kadirgamar was gunned down at his Bullers Lane residence on August 12 last year by a team of suspected LTTE snipers who assassinated the then Minister by shooting him from the upstairs of the Thalayasingham residence when he emerged from a swim at the residence swimming pool.