The slaying of a senior police officer:

Was it sudden provocation?

Last week’s killing of an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of the Special Task Force (STF) by a Chief Inspector of Police (CI) of the STF camp at Maha-Oya following an argument sent shockwaves in the security establishment. However this wasn’t the first occasion where senior police officers have been killed by subordinate officers following violent outbursts in the past.

Records show of several such instances during the past few decades where senior officers have been shot dead at point blank range or knifed by disgruntled junior policemen at their work-places. Most killings have been attributed to grave and sudden provocation while others fall into the category of pre- meditated murders.

Going down memory lane what comes to our mind instantly is the killing of Inspector Roy Perera, the OIC of Dematagoda police station in the late fifties. He was stabbed to death in his office by a disgruntled Police constable over a disciplinary matter.

In the early part of the 70's the OIC of a police station in the suburbs of Colombo was killed by a Police Constable.

The victim in this case was HQI of the Moratuwa police station, Inspector Earl Peeris. He was shot dead while he was at his office by a Police Constable who had an axe to grind. The constable alleged that he was harassed by the OIC concerned. The third incident was the killing of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ekanayake of the Ampara Police station sometime between 1972 -1975.

An enraged Police Constable stabbed him to death following a heated argument. The ASP concerned was a new recruit who had less than three years of service.

The last case to be reported was from Maha-oya where a ghastly shooting took place at the STF Camp located at the 69 mile-post in the Ampara area. It was both a homicide and a suicide that occurred on September 25.

It was a quiet Sunday when Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sisira Kumara Muruthettuwegama walked into his office at the Maha-oya STF camp.

With the culmination of the LTTE terrorist war in the East, STF Commandos have declared a war on drug runners and underworld characters. ASP Muruthettuwegama, (46), a native of Ratnapura was the Commanding officer of STF camp at Maha-Oya.

He was a task master who did not take his duties lightly. He was heavily involved in clearing up underworld activities in Colombo. After a stint in Colombo he was transferred to the STF camp at Maha-Oya. But he was wary of the state of affairs at the STF Camp at the 18th mile post on the Ampara -Aranthalawa Road.

The Officer-in-charge of the camp was Chief Inspector Jayatilleke (54) a veteran of the STF. He too was an instructor of the STF who had a clean record of service.

A native of Kuruwita, he joined the STF as a Police Constable in the 1980’s and rapidly rose through the ranks to become a Chief Inspector (CI) of the STF by dint of sheer hard work. In fact both officers had a good track record of work and accomplishments to their credit, according to a senior police officer.

Following the conclusion of the LTTE terrorist war, Chief Inspector Jayatilleke devoted his time for social service activities in his village at Kuruwita. He had built a temple and a well for the use of the villagers of Kuruwita.

On the day of the incident ASP Muruthettuwegama had instructed, the OIC of the Maha-Oya camp Chief Inspector Jayatileke to produce the two Police Constables before him for being absent for two weeks.

When the STF Constables were produced they explained to him that they could not come for work due to illness of their mothers. However both Constables left the room after they were reprimanded by ASP Muruthettuwegama.

Thereafter, Chief Inspector Jayatilleke remained with the ASP in the room for a short while. There was nobody else except two women typists who were in a separate enclosure of the room.

A senior police officer told the Sunday Observer, that there was a verbal barrage between them. It is not clear whether the two women typists in the partitioned room and other STF personnel heard the heated argument.

The ASP and the OIC were in the room for nearly 15 minutes when others heard gunshots coming from the direction of the ASP’s room.

According to police sources Chief Inspector Jayatilleke had pulled out his service revolver and fired a shot at ASP Muruthettuwegama’s head. Thereafter he repeatedly fired five shots at the ASP’s chest without any remorse.

The fatally wounded ASP slumped on the table with broken pieces of teeth strewn on the table. Thereafter Chief Inspector Jayatilleke committed suicide by placing his revolver on his head and firing a shot.

The bullet pierced his head and made an exit from the other side. “We found a hole in the beret he wore.” a senior police officer said.

The critically wounded ASP and the Chief Inspector were rushed to the Maha-oya hospital by the STF commandos. However, ASP Muruthettuwegama succumbed to his injuries at the hospital while Chief Inspector Jayatilleke was alive on admission to the hospital.

As he was in a critical condition he was airlifted to the Kandy General Hospital. However, while arrangements were being made to transfer him to the Colombo National Hospital he succumbed to his injuries.

Although the motive for the killing and the suicide is not clear as yet, it is suspected that ASP Muruthettuwegama made sarcastic remarks about his caste at his office which sent him into a fit of rage.

Meanwhile inquiries conducted by the Maha-oya police revealed that the two reprimanded Police Constables of the STF, ASP Muruthetuwegama and Chief Inspector Jayatilleke were natives of the Ratnapura district. Police sources said that the Special Task Force (STF) camp at Maha-oya had been besieged with violence in the past.

Around five service personnel had died in an exchange of fire. Somewhere between 2005-2007 two sleuths from the National Information Bureau (NIB) were also killed in a shoot out.

A Home Guard also suffered the same fate when he shot himself. When the people of Maha-Oya heard about the shooting last week they flocked to the ASP’s office at Maha-oya thinking that ASP Priyankara was shot dead.

They later realised that ASP Priyankara was on leave when the shooting took place. Meanwhile, a top level probe is being conducted by the Maha-Oya police under the supervision of Senior DIG Eastern Province Jagath Abeysiri Gunewardena, DIG T.N. Wije Gunewardena, SP. Prenala Ranagala and ASP A. Priyankara, and OIC Maha Oya Jayapathma.