Maheswaran killing: more details surface

by Jayampathy Jayasinghe and Shanika Sriyananda

More details have surfaced about the suspect who allegedly assassinated the UNP Member of Parliament (MP) T. Maheswaran at a Hindu Kovil at Kotanena last week.

IGP Victor Perera told a media briefing at Police Headquarters yesterday that the assassin had fired several shots at MP Maheswaran while he was prostrate worshipping at the entrance to the Hindu Kovil.

It was a customary practice for the MP to worship at the entrance of the kovil after finishing his main pooja.

At this stage his bodyguard Police Constable Dharmasiri fired at the assassin. The suspect then ran out of the Kovil followed by Constable Dharmasiri who kept firing at the assassin.

The assassin who emptied his magazine had then attempted to reload his micro pistol with another magazine but was unable to do so as he was injured in the hand and head.

However, the injuries he sustained were not fatal. The assassin then threw his micro pistol and the magazine and fell unconscious. In the meantime two persons who were known to the assassin had taken him to the Colombo National Hospital, the IGP said.

The IGP said that he visited the Kovil and the Colombo National Hospital and obtained more details of the assassin. Subsequently the suspect's aunt in Jaffna said that the assassin had left home in 1990 and his whereabouts were unknown to her.

However further inquiries revealed that he was a member of the LTTE. His father Anthonipulle Johnson Collin and mother Dona Angela had left Jaffna and settled down in Kilinochchi in 1985.

The assassin who studied in Kilinochchi had later joined the LTTE who trained him as a member of the pistol gang. He was allocated number 5127 by the LTTE and was trained in an LTTE camp called Virapuram. After training he was again allotted No. 1527 and was under the command of Master Madhivan.

Subsequently Madhivan Master sent the assassin to Wattala in August 2006 and was provided with temporary shelter. While he was engaged in temporary jobs, on the instructions of the LTTE the assassin opened a bank account at a commercial bank in Kotahena.

Thereafter money was remitted to the bank account from Norway and other sources. The assassin had only communicated with Madhivan Master on the phone provided by the LTTE. In 2007 he was ordered by the LTTE to assassinate MP Maheswaran.

In December 2007 he was summoned to Wellawatte and was given the Miroc pistol with two magazines containing 39 ammunition. Thereafter the assassin had loaded 14 rounds of ammunition into two magazines and had hidden 25 rounds of ammunition at his Wattala home.

On the day of the assassination, the assassin had accompanied the inmates of his Wattala home to a church at Kochchikade and had later abandoned them. Later he entered the Hindu Kovil and assassinated MP Maheswaran. Meanwhile, two witnesses had made statements to the police that they could identify the assassin.

As a result we have fixed an identification parade to identify the suspect. Owing to the case pending before Court we have revealed only a portion of the details for the public to get a true picture of the assassination, the IGP said.