The Western Province Southern District Crimes Division has managed to find the firearm that was supposedly used to shoot and kill a person in a three-wheeler near Kittampahuwa Vivekananda Vihara on August 28 and the motorcycle that the shooter came on.
The Western Province South District Crime Division stated that a person residing in Kotahena who was to be arrested for this murder had surrendered through a lawyer on Sunday (3) and based on information that the suspect had revealed during questioning, they found the firearm and the motorcycle supposedly used in the shooting incident.
This suspect is a resident of St. Benedict Mawatha, Kotahena and is 37.
The revolver was found hidden in the house of the suspect. A senior Police officer said that there is a doubt whether it was this weapon that was actually used in the shooting.
The motorcycle was found hidden in a vehicle yard in Bloemendhal Road.
The Western Province South District Crime Division also stated that this suspect is a three-wheeler driver by profession.
It has also been revealed during interrogation of the suspect, that the shooter, after achieving his target in Kittampahuwa, Wellampitiya, abandoned the motorcycle and boarded a three-wheeler on the way, then went to the Kelaniya Bridge and boarded a bus from there.
The suspect had told the Police that he took the shooter to the Kelaniya Bridge and that the shooter had handed over the firearm to him.
The Western Province Southern District Crime Division stated that the fugitive shooter has been identified.
Investigations have revealed that the murder was led by a drug dealer named Ravi, who has fled the country, and that it was the result of a drug dispute.
The Western Province South District Crime Division had arrested three people involved in this murder plan. There is a woman among them.
Investigations have also revealed that the murdered person was brought to Wellampitiya by this woman, a resident of Kotahena, through a phone call and shot dead.
Investigations have also revealed that Ravi had promised to give the woman an amount of Rs. 500,000 for helping with the phone call.
Among the others arrested are the woman’s brother and the man who is the manager of Ravi Theepan’s drug network in India, according to the Western Province South District Crime Division.
Both these suspects are residents of Kotahena.
It had been discovered that the manager of the drug smuggler named Ravi receives more than Rs. 12 million per day from Ravi’s drug network and all of that money is sent via the ‘undiyal’ system to India. At the time of arrest, Rs. 1.7 million and nine modern mobile phones were found in his possession.
During investigations carried out up to now, it has been revealed that the murdered person was involved in Ravi’s drug distribution network. Mohammad Sarjan had been engaged in the business of buying materials and sewing and selling clothes.
The Police said that apart from that, he also works as a three-wheeler driver.
Gayan Kumara Weerasinghe