Investigations have confirmed that two individuals killed by Police gunfire in the Millewa Puwakwatta area of the Moragahahena Police jurisdiction were organised criminals involved in housebreaking and robbery. The Moragahahena Police reported that the two suspects were fatally shot early yesterday morning (23) when they failed to comply with Police orders and attempted to flee in a three-wheeler.
The deceased have been identified as Suraj Prabodha Adihetti, also known as Mattegoda Sudda, a 42-year-old resident of 18 Kanu-ara, Suriyagama in Thanamalvila and Suriya Arachchige Imesh Dhanushka Darshana, also known as Happa, a 36-year-old former soldier who deserted the Army Special Forces. He was a resident of house number 455, Mattegoda. Both were known to be registered criminals.
These individuals were travelling from Meegoda towards Moragahahena in a red three- wheeler when they encountered a Police roadblock near the Berukatiya junction. Despite being signalled to stop, they fired at Police and continued towards Moragahahena.
The Crime Scene Investigation officer from the Nugegoda Police Division, who examined the site, discovered one 9mm bullet and two T-56 firearm bullets near the roadblock where the shooting occurred. After the shooting incident, Police made announcements to surrounding stations. This information was also received by officers of the Western Province Southern Crime Division stationed near a tyre factory in the Puwakwatta area of Millewa of the Moragahahena Police area.
When the three-wheeler approached another roadblock, it again failed to stop and drove past, prompting Police officers to retaliate. According to Police reports, two occupants of the three wheeler were injured in the shooting and later succumbed to their injuries after being taken to Horana Base Hospital for treatment. During this time, a third individual fled to a nearby rubber plot. Authorities are currently looking for this person, identified as Kasun. Officers of the West South District Crime Division, who responded to the shooting, remained at the scene to investigate potential links to a double murder that occurred at the Moragahahena Malos Ela junction on April 7.
Further investigation into the two deceased has revealed their involvement in various crimes. Mattegoda Sudda is reported to be a close relative of underworld figure Welioya Priyantha, who fled abroad after involvement in a fatal shooting at the Ratmalana Economic Centre. Sudda has also been implicated in violent crimes at Salgas junction in Mattegoda about ten years ago and in drug trafficking activities involving Kerala ganja and Ice.
Additionally, he was identified as a motorcyclist in an attack on a businessman’s house in the Kandana area on August 4, 2023. He was arrested near the Mattegoda bus station last February by officers of the Special Bureau of Mattegoda Police and subsequently presented to Court.
On March 23, Sudda and three others were arrested at a roadblock in the Mattegoda area with a stolen motorcycle. After being remanded, he was later released on bail. He was previously convicted for possession of a firearm in 2002 and has been arrested multiple times since 2017 for trafficking Ice and ganja in various police jurisdictions including Dompe, Piliyandala, Thalangama and Thanamalvila. Imesh Dhanushka Darshana, also known as Happa, has been implicated in numerous housebreaking incidents and property thefts across the Kahathuduwa Mattegoda and Moragahahena Police domains from 2010 to 2023, along with involvement in heroin and ganja trafficking.
Vinitha Manel Gamage, Pradeep Kumar, B.K.Katriarachchi and Bimal Jayasinghe