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| Sunday, 8 August 2004 |
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Big breakthrough in PLOTE Mohan killing by Jayampathy Jayasinghe It was a sultry day and the heat was unbearable. Traffic on the Duplication Road near Vajira Road junction was not so heavy as it was a Saturday. However, since it was a busy intersection, there were only few people scurrying about attending to their daily chores. It was July 31st Saturday. The time was around 10.00 a.m. Everything happened so soon before anyone could realise that a man had been shot dead in broad daylight. The shooting occurred close to Duplication-Vajira road traffic signals. Police have made a dramatic breakthrough in tracing the Hi-Ace van and the tri-shaw taxi involved in the incident. Meanwhile, the victim has been identified as Kandiah Yogarassa alias PLOTE Mohan, an informant of the Army, an Army spokesman said. Having left the PLOTE organisation some time back, Mohan worked as an informant for the Sri Lankan Army. The gruesome killing was witnessed by several persons on the Duplication road. The two men, as they approached the tri-shaw, had pulled out pistols and fired at the man who was talking to someone on his cellular phone. According to an eyewitness, eight shots were fired at the victim repeatedly through the tri-shaw at PLOTE Mohan. The tri-shaw driver too had ducked to avoid being hit by gunfire. PLOTE Mohan after being shot, had slumped on the road while the two assailants hurriedly walked along Duplication Road towards Kollupitiya. They were later presumed to be picked up by the white Hi-Ace van. Meanwhile, the tri-shaw taxi driver had vanished without reporting the crime to the police. The killings posed a big security challenge to the police. The spectre still haunting the public of armed killers roaming the city of Colombo, especially during the aftermath of the Kottawa massacre, probably would have prompted the IGP, Indra de Silva, to entrust the Colombo Crime Division to investigate this killing. Director, Colombo Crime Division, (CCD) SSP Sarath Lugoda, was directed to takeover the investigations from the Bambalapitiya Police. Within a short period, the detectives were able to trace the tri-shaw. as well as the Hi-Ace Van, belonging to a person residing at Batticaloa. Police later learnt that the van owner had left his residence and moved to LTTE controlled areas. The tri-shaw driver while being grilled had admitted that he knew the deceased and his wife for five years. The couple had lived with their child in a rented house at Nugegoda during this period. They usually hired his tri-shaw whenever they wanted to visit some place and summoned his taxi by phone. However, the tri-shaw driver had not known him by the name of PLOTE Mohan. On the day of the incident, PLOTE Mohan had hired his tri-shaw at Nugegoda. He and the driver had travelled along High Level Road and turned on to Dickman's Road and then to Duplication Road and again to Vajira Road from where they picked up an unidentified person near the traffic lights. According to PLOTE Mohan's wife, the unidentified person from Batticaloa had known her husband's brother who lived in Indonesia. The unidentified person had sought PLOTE Mohan's assistance to obtain a liquor licence from another person. In fact, they had visited another person at Bambalapitiya to discuss about the matter. Thereafter, they drove straight to Kollupitiya and parked the taxi some where near the Indo-Ceylon cafe close to the National Savings Bank (NSB). PLOTE Mohan alone had then got down and walked along a path on the land-side to meet someone. Later, he returned to the tri-shaw and they all drove back to Vajira-Duplication Road. The unidentified person had got off near the colour light signals at Duplication-Vajira Road junction. Thereafter, the tri-shaw had proceeded along Duplication Road towards Dickman's Road. Just then, PLOTE Mohan had received a telephone call and he told the tri-shaw driver to stop the vehicle and switch off the engine. It was at this point the two men had fired at him. Meanwhile, on a tip-off, detectives searched the hotel room at Duplication Road, Bambalapitiya where the unidentified person had been staying. The unidentified person had travelled from Batticaloa to Colombo on July 29 night and had checked into the hotel at Duplication Road, Bambalapitiya the following day at 6.a.m. But, after the shooting incident, he had disappeared from the hotel. The police found a cellular phone, a phone card chip, some clothes and an identity card in his room. |
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