Sri Lanka Colombo, a murder in the courts makes the criminal alarm jump

An important head of the local suburbs killed in the courtroom in the court to which he had been transferred from the prison for an audience. It was a murderer disguised as a lawyer who went into action. The Minister of Justice ordered armed escort and fingerprints for the statements before the court.

Colombo () – A murder inside the Hulftsdorp court, in Colombo, has once again put the question of crime in Sri Lanka in recent hours. On February 19, a murderer broke into the courtroom and shot Sanjeewa Kumara, better known as “Sanjeeva Ganemulla”, a leading figure of the local underworld. The ambush occurred while the capo was taken before the judge from the prison of the southern city of Boossa, where it was held. Moved to the hospital, he died shortly after his admission.

The police spokesman said that Sanjeeva was killed by an armed man who entered the lawyer dressed room, hiding a weapon inside a copy of the Criminal Code. Another woman dressed as a lawyer helped her. After a few hours, the agents arrested a man accused of being the murderer in the Palaviya area, in Puttalam: he was identified as Samindu Dilshan Piyumanga Kandanaarachi. In addition to him, a driver who allegedly helped him and an agent of the Negombo police station, which also allegedly appeared among the accomplices, were also arrested. The woman, identified as Ishara Sewwandi, 25, resident in Katuwellegama, in the Negombo area, has not yet been found.

The Minister of Public Security, Ananda Wijepala, has declared that the suspicious man of killing Sanjeeva was also involved in other murders in recent weeks. Meanwhile, the Minister of Justice, Harshana Nanayakkara, declared that the government will take this incident very seriously: «With the current system, no one is armed to court. In this context the incident occurred. After maintaining conversations with the Police Inspector and the parties involved, from now on the special detainees will be interrogated in the courts accompanied by an armed guard and the fingerprints will be taken ».

Sanjeewa Kumara, who had fled the country while looking and capturing for criminal activities, was arrested at the airport on his return from Nepal in September 2023. Since then he had remained held in the Boossa field waiting for a series of judgments against him. The form of his murder has caused great consternation among the population. Many wonder: “What security is guaranteed for our lives, if such an event can happen within the judicial system?” According to official data from 2024from January to December, more than 100 violent incidents caused the death of 103 people in the country.

Photo: Derana Television