• Suspected Meegoda shooter, driver, and accomplice arrested 

A shooting incident has been reported in Pathaduwana, Minuwangoda, at around noon yesterday (13), the Police stated. A shooting was carried out by two unidentified gunmen who arrived on a motorcycle. 

Police stated that no one was injured in the shooting. According to the Police, the shooting was targeted at an individual known as ‘Pas Dileepa’ from Minuwangoda.

Meanwhile, the suspected gunman in the shooting incident that took place in Meegoda on Tuesday (12) afternoon has been arrested, the Police said. The former Homagama Pradeshiya Sabha Member Shantha Mudunkotuwa, 46, who sustained injuries in the shooting, later succumbed to his injuries while receiving treatment at the hospital. He was shot at around 1.10 p.m.

Meanwhile, the body of Mudunkotuwa was brought to his residence on Somarathna Mawatha in Padukka on Tuesday night. 

The suspects arrested in connection with the murder were scheduled to be produced before the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Police is expected to seek permission to detain them for further questioning.

He had represented several parties during his political career, including the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the United National Party, and others. Outside politics, he had been involved in real estate businesses, including land acquisitions, sales, and construction. A few days before the incident, he had lodged a complaint with the Meegoda Police concerning a dispute over a land. According to Police investigations, the victim was also the cousin of an organised crime suspect known as ‘Gagana’ and had reportedly been involved in extortion activities using the name of another organised crime suspect, Lalith Kannangara, alias ‘Bus Lalith’. Police suspect that the murder may have been an act of revenge carried out by ‘Bus Lalith’. Following the shooting, Police acted swiftly, setting up roadblocks and inspecting vehicles. 

During this operation, they seized a vehicle and its driver near the Palamthuna Junction in Thalangama. A nine millimetre firearm suspected to have been used in the shooting was also taken into Police custody. Based on information obtained during the interrogation of the arrested driver, the suspected shooter and another accomplice were later apprehended by the Police near the Palamthuna Junction in Thalangama on Tuesday evening.