MTV/MBC attack: Suspects evading arrest

by Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

Police probing the attack on the MTV/MBC TV/Radio station at Depanama on 6th January by a group of unknown persons say the second suspect involved in the attack has been identified as a member of the Kotte Municipal Council, Police Media spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunesekera told the Sunday Observer.

He said that police have also identified the four others linked to the attack. Although the suspects are evading arrest their addresses are now known to the police, he said.

Meanwhile the chief incumbent of the Deuvram Viharaya located adjacent to the MTV/Sirasa studio complex had complained to police that prior to the attack some unknown persons had arrived in a jeep at the temple and had threatened him. Police now suspect they were the same group of persons who had attacked the TV/Radio station.

Meanwhile SSP Gunesekera said the chassis number of the jeep that belonged to the Kotte Municipal Council member who was remanded in connection with the attack, has been found interfered with, and the engine too has been replaced with a new one. The new vehicle has not been registered with the Motor Commissioner's Department under anyone's name.

As a result, confusion arose with regard to the ownership of the vehicle and moreover the member's statement to the police too have been found to be false. Police investigating the attack say that they have not received the CCTV tapes so far for further investigations.

Two days prior to the incident some persons had hurled three Molotov cocktails at the MTV/MBC complex. No one was identified, police said.