Former Sri Lanka Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga who was produced before the Gangodawila Magistrate’s Court by the Mirihana Police yesterday evening (10) has been remanded until January 17.
Weeratunga was arrested for attacking and injuring his neighbour yesterday morning by the Mirihana Police. The arrest was made after the Mirihana Police received a complaint regarding the assault from the wife of the victim who was attacked by Weeratunga.
The Police Media Division said that the attack has been carried out on Thursday (9) afternoon due to a domestic dispute between the two parties over a blind wall separating the two houses at Kanatta Road, Thalapathpitiya in Mirihana. The 66-year-old neighbour Sarath Chandrasiri who was attacked by Weeratunga has been admitted to the Sri Jayawardhanapura Hospital and is currently undergoing treatment for his injuries.
During the dispute, Weeratunga has used a plastic pipe to attack his neighbour and the victim’s nose has been severely injured as a result along with several other injuries.
Weeratunga had been angered by his neighbour video recording him breaking the neighbour’s boundary wall to carry out an illegal construction to lift the wall on the instructions of his lawyer after CCTV footage revealed the incident taking place. He has threatened his neighbour saying that he is not afraid and he has been in prison for many years and is ready to go to prison again along with his neighbour whom he attacked alleging that even Gotabaya tried to instill fear in him before.
The victim said that he has requested Udayanga Weeratunga on several occasions to stop breaking his blind wall without success which led him to file a complaint at the Police and his lawyer was gathering evidence for the police to file a civil case against Weeratunga when this incident occurred.
The victim further said that he fears for his life due to the security threat involved after the assault, as he is living alone in his house with his wife.
Varuna Dayaratne