Alleged assassin says Maheswaran killing LTTE job

By Asif Fuard

Detectives conducting the investigation into the assassination of UNP parliamentarian T. Maheswaran said yesterday the alleged assassin had confessed that an LTTE handler had ordered the murder because the MP had differences with the rebel group over finances. They said that the confession made by the alleged assassin identified as Johnston Collin Vasanthan Valentine was video-taped and would be produced in court.

The confession was made when the suspect was questioned by CID detectives although the investigation is being handled by the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD). The Sunday Times learns that the DNA report of the blood samples obtained from the crime scene has confirmed that the blood on the murder weapon was that of Johnston Valentine.

The detectives said they had traced 36 calls between the suspect and his LTTE handler. They also said he was produced before Judicial Medical Officer before his statement was recorded and also after it was recorded in a bid to show no torture methods were used to extract the confession. The detectives also said the suspect’s family members from Gurunagar, Jaffna said he was an LTTEer.

Meanwhile, a key eyewitness who was left out during the first identification parade is to be called for a second parade to be held by the Colombo Chief Magistrate. The witness had claimed that he was present at the time of the shooting, but had not been invited to identify the suspect.

Additional Magistrate Ravindra Premaratna ordered a fresh identification parade after objections were raised about the manner in which the first identification parade was held. The suspect and a few others were produced with bandaged faces, making it difficult for the only two eyewitnesses to identify the suspect. The case is to be taken up again tomorrow.