An armed group which arrived in a black car yesterday (13) had shot at the main witness in an abduction case at Dickwella, Dematapitiya using a T-56 weapon and fled the scene. The person who was shot at who sustained severe injuries was admitted to the Matara Hospital.
The police said it was a 51-year-old individual living in the same area who was the victim of the shooting.
According to the police, he is separated from his wife and living alone. He had been shot at near the house where his wife was residing when he had gone there to take his child to school. He had been traveling on a motorcycle.They said that he was in the habit of taking his child to school daily.
Police said that the wife was living separately from her husband after a family dispute and that the reason was that the wife had engaged in an extra marital affair. This dispute had been there for a while and the person with whom the wife was involved with sometime ago together with a group of individuals had come and abducted yesterday’s victim of the shooting and assaulted him. Subsequent to this assault the husband had allowed his wife and child to live in his house and gone to reside at his ancestral home, police said. This ancestral home is also located in a nearby area.
Based on a complaint he had lodged with the police in connection with his abduction and assault, the wife’s paramour and several others had been taken into custody by them. According to the police, that individual is a resident of Beliatta. That case is being heard in court at present and another witness had been shot at on April 27 night. The shooting was done using a T-56 weapon targeting a person who ran a betel boutique at the Dematapitiya Junction. The 47 year old victim had got away with his life.
A top-ranked police officer said that investigations were conducted regarding the shooting and two suspects connected to it had been arrested. It had been revealed that the shooting had been carried out on a contract and the person behind the shooting had been the individual from Beliatta who had abducted the victim earlier. Police have not been able to take him into custody regarding the shooting as yet.
Police said that a warrant has been issued against this individual from Beliatta since he did not appear in court when the case related to abduction was taken up for hearing. During investigations it has been revealed that this same suspect from Beliatta had organized this shooting. It has been discovered that he attempted to shoot and kill the victim since he was a main witness in the case.
Wednesday, June 14, 2023 – 01:00