‘Makandure Madush’ shot dead : Magistrate orders body be handed over to family
21 Oct 2020
‘Makandure Madush’ shot dead : Magistrate orders body be handed over to family
21 Oct 2020
Magistrate orders body be handed over to family
Notorious underworld figure and drug kingpin “Makandure Madush” was shot dead in crossfire between the Police and other suspected underworld figures at the Maligawatte Housing Complex. The Colombo Additional Magistrate yesterday (20) ordered the Judicial Medical Officer to handover the body of Madush to his legal wife after the post mortem.The Magistrate’s inquest of the notorious underworld figure and drug kingpin went underway yesterday (20) following his death at the Maligawatte Housing Complex. The Magistrate of the No. 4 Magistrate’s Court in Hulftsdorp, Colombo inspected the scene and the body, according to Police Media Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana.The deceased’s wife had identified the body before the Magistrate and the body was to be handed over to relatives after the post mortem, he added.After uncovering information regarding a stock of 22 kg of heroin hidden at the Maligawatte Housing Complex, officers of the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) visited that location along with Makandure Madush.However, suspected underworld figures and drug traffickers had then reportedly opened fire at them.Madush and two officers of the CCD were shot in the crossfire that ensued.Madush had later succumbed to injuries.The Police recovered 22 kg of heroin, two pistols, and a motorcycle during investigations at the Maligawatte Housing Complex where Madush was shot dead.Meanwhile, two police constables attached to the CCD were also injured in the shootout.“The two police constables injured in the incident are currently receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital,” said Rohana. “A team including the Maligawatte Officer-In-Charge (OIC) is conducting investigations into the death. The evidence of the police officers who participated in this operation is to be presented before the courts. “Furthermore, the CCD is conducting further investigations into the operation, and also after obtaining information regarding a motorcycle that was found at the scene,” he said.The notorious underworld figure was in the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for nearly one-and-a-half years before he was transferred to the custody of the CCD on Friday (16).Based on the information divulged by the drug kingpin during interrogations, a consignment of heroin weighing nearly 10 kg had been seized from the Kotikawatta area by the CCD on Saturday (17).Samarasinghe Arachchige Madush Lakshitha alias Makandure Madush was an underworld gang leader in Sri Lanka who had been abroad in hiding several years before his arrest. Madush was previously under the custody of the Dubai authorities after being arrested at a party thrown by him at a Dubai hotel back in October 2018.Along with him, 31 Sri Lankans including underworld figures and celebrities were also arrested in Dubai.Madush was deported from Dubai on 5 May 2019 and was taken into the custody of the CID upon arrival at the Bandaranaike international Airport, Katunayake (BIA).He had allegedly operated his drug network, extortion rackets, and other criminal activities through his accomplices in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka Police was on the hunt for Madush, who was one of Sri Lanka’s most wanted criminals, for the past couple of years as he had managed to evade arrest by the Sri Lankan and foreign authorities on numerous occasions.