Murder on a cold afternoon

Kithsiri Rajapakse (53) who spent 10 years in Italy returned home last year to spend a vacation and was shot dead by an assassin on January 15. Rajapakse died at the hands of an assassin like his brother who was also shot dead by an underworld gang last year while he was at his residence at Muhandiram lane at Keselwatte, Colombo. Kithsiri was a resident at Muhandhiram Mawatha before migrating to Italy.

It was on a cold day of January 15 this year that he was shot dead while being seated in a Trishaw at a taxi stand at Mihindu Mawatha adjacent to a vacant land. People still remember January 13 when the temperature in Colombo dropped to a low level of 18 degrees celsius after a lapse of 60 years.

The two assassins who arrived on a motor cycle at Mihindu Mawatha, Keselwatte that noon had carried out the assassination according to police. The two assassins spotted Kithsiri Rajapakse seated on a three wheeler parked at a taxi stand at Mihindu Mawatha, Colombo. The killers then boldly parked their motor cycle a few yards away from the taxi stand as if they were meet someone in the neighbourhood. One man remained where the motor cycle was parked while the other walked towards the Trishaw. The man then dug his fingers into his trouser pocket and pulled out a loaded Browning pistol and aimed at Kithsiri Rajapakse.

Fired

He then fired several shots wounding Kithsiri Rajapakse fatally at point blank range. The victim slumped to the ground after being fatally wounded. Thereafter, the two assassins fled the scene before crowds gathered. They rode on their motor cycle and made their escape. The Keselwatte Police on hearing the shooting incident rushed to the scene to apprehend the suspects. By that time, however, the assassins had vanished leaving behind no clues. Police found Kithsiri Rajapakse sprawled on the ground near the trishaw. With the help of the public the victim was rushed to the Colombo National Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police launched an extensive investigation into the shooting incident to rope in the killers. But nobody came forward to identify the killers through fear. Nobody knew from where they came and made an exit after accomplishing their mission. There was no information forthcoming regarding the shooting. The identity of the killers remained a mystery. So, the police had to start their investigation from scratch by identifying the killers first and then going after them later.

It was at this stage that Senior DIG Western Province, K.P.P. Pathirana, received information about the killers. He was informed that the two men were professional killers. On the instructions of Senior DIG Pathirana and DIG Daya Samaraweera, ASP Nishantha detailed two police teams from the Mirihana Special Investigation Unit and from the Peliyagoda Special Crime Investigation Unit to trace the killers who got away having killed a man in broad daylight brazenly.

Inspector Jayantha Perera from the Mirihana Police station was put in charge of the investigations and OIC, Special Investigation Unit of Mirihana, Chief Inspector Janaka Kumara supervised the investigation.

The policemen were assigned with the task of locating the killers. After painstaking detective work, the police found the names of two professional assassins on their radar screen. In fact the details furnished by the informant matched the description of assassins.

Thereafter, on the instructions of Senior DIG Pathirana, the plain clothes policemen proceeded to Rannala, a hamlet in the Navagamuwa, in the Kaduwela area. Police were quite certain that the killers were being sheltered by someone in a house.

They visited the house in the middle of the night and there were a few midnight knocks on the door. But the killers weren’t there anyhow. Perhaps they probably had gone somewhere else, guessed the police. Meanwhile, on a tip off the police team visited Dambulla on February 2 in pursuit of the killers. But they were taken aback when they found that most parts of Dambulla was inundated. Incessant rain had wreaked havoc in the area. The main roads were under several feet of water that hampered movements.

The policemen were somehow compelled to stay back at Dambulla until the flood waters receded. For their luck the flood waters receded on February 3 and they proceeded to Galkiriyagama a town in the Dambulla-Halmillaweva area. Police finally traced the two alleged killers hiding away at a friend's home.

They interrogated the suspects and learnt the men were professionals. They also learnt that they were hired to eliminate Kithsiri Rajapakse, who had returned from Italy recently.

Killers

The suspects were promised a sum of Rs. 500,000 for the job by an underworld man but had only given them Rs 200,000 after accomplishing the mission. Police further learnt that the underworld man was given the contract by a man serving a prison sentence in Colombo.

He had instructed the underworld man to get the job done as quickly as possible before Kithsiri Rajapakse returns to Italy.

Meanwhile, police were able to elicit much more information from the assassins regarding the killing. They further told police, that the underworld man had provided them with a Browning pistol with nine live ammunition.

Subsequently the Browning pistol was recovered at the home of the first accused Mudiyanse Pathiranalage Aruna (23) along with nine live ammunition. It was a major breakthrough for the police team investigating the case. They also learnt that the motor cycle used for the job belonged to Chaminda Buddika, the second accused. Police found the motor cycle at a house at Puwakpitiya in the Avissawella area.

On the Instructions of Senior DIG Western Province, Pathirana, the Browning Pistol and the nine live ammunition have been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for further investigation.

The CID is now probing how an underworld man came to possess such a sophisticated weapon such as a Browning pistol with live ammunition. The CID has begun a probe to ascertain whether the weapon was stolen from armed service personnel or from a politician.

According to police, Kithsiri Rajapakse’s brother Arunajith Rajapakse who lived in Italy for 16 years was also shot dead by an underworld gang last April while vacationing in Sri Lanka.

The accused linked to the killing were arrested and are in Remand custody . Police said enmity between two families in the Keselwatte area was linked to the shooting incident.

The police are probing whether the killers have been given a further contract to assassinate two prominent politicians in the western province. It was learnt that the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is probing into the assassination plot as well, sources said.