The suspects named in the letter sent by the Attorney General to the Criminal Investigation Department on the 27th of last month in connection with a case being heard at the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court are not the suspects arrested in connection with the murder of Lasantha Wickramatunga, the Attorney General’s Department says.
Issuing a press release, the Attorney General’s Department states that the investigations into the murder have not been completed.
The full statement is as follows.
The suspects named in the letter sent by the Attorney General to the Director Criminal Investigation Department on 27.01.2025 in connection with Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court Case No. B 92/2009 are not the suspects arrested in connection with the murder of Mr. Sentha Wickramatunga. The investigations into the murder have not been completed.
The content of the statements made by the media and social media. The investigations forwarded to the Attorney General by the Criminal Investigation Department are not comparable to the excerpts.
After more than 6 years since the murder of journalist Lasantha Wickramatunga, in 2015, his driver, who was not an eyewitness to the murder, informed the Criminal Investigation Department that he had been abducted by a group in late 2009.
Based on that information, an investigation was initiated and steps were taken to report the facts under Case No. B 92/2009, which was then called before the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court.
In the said investigation, Prema Ananda Udalagama, who was named as a suspect, was decided to be released on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to file criminal charges based on the facts presented and the legal weaknesses that arose in the identification.
Furthermore, the following suspects were arrested during the investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department in connection with the misplacement of a document from the vehicle driven by Lasantha Wickramatunga;
- Hettiarachchige Doth Tissa Siri Sugathapala
- Vitarana Arachchige Sirimevan Prasanna Nanayakkara,
It was also decided to release them due to insufficient evidence to file criminal charges.
I hereby inform you that this release does not preclude the consideration of filing criminal charges due to the disclosure of new evidence.
Angelo Vannoff.
State Attorney (Administrative)
Instead of the Attorney General