Update, September 2: Police have made a first arrest in the case and say the motorcycle involved was also used in two earlier attacks. Jump to the update

A hotel owner has been hospitalised with gunshot injuries after a shooting on Seelalankara Mawatha in Habarakada, within the Athurugiriya Police Division, police said.

The shooting took place on Monday afternoon, August 17, according to Hiru News. The injured man was admitted to the Homagama Base Hospital for treatment.

Ada Derana reported that the victim is, according to initial reports, a relative of a man known as “Dubai Kasun,” who is alleged to be a member of an organised criminal gang. Hiru News did not carry that detail.

Hiru News said the reason for the shooting had not been established at the time of reporting.

Drug feud suspected

Preliminary investigations indicate the shooting may have stemmed from a conflict between two groups involved in drug trafficking, Ada Derana reported on Tuesday, August 18.

Police said two people rode up to the scene on a motorcycle to carry out the shooting. Residents told Ada Derana they heard around three gunshots, after which the gunmen fled immediately.

Athurugiriya Police are continuing investigations into the circumstances of the incident. No arrests had been reported at the time of the follow-up report.

Police arrested a 42-year-old man on Monday, September 1, on suspicion of aiding and abetting attempted murder in connection with the shooting, Ada Derana reported. Officers from the Western Province South Division Crime Unit detained him in the Gangodawila area; he is a resident of Gangodawila, Nugegoda.

According to police, the suspect provided information that led investigators to a motorcycle allegedly used by the gunmen to travel to the scene. The machine was found at his residence and was fitted with forged number plates.

Those plates are what ties the case to other attacks. Police said the same forged plates had previously been used on motorcycles allegedly involved in two further incidents. The first was on July 19 at a cemetery in the Dehiwala Police Division, where a person was shot in an alleged attempted murder. The second was on July 21 on Templers Road in the Mount Lavinia Police Division, where suspects arrived at a residence, threatened the occupants with a firearm and assaulted them — the attack in which the attackers’ pistol failed to fire and the intended target escaped with minor injuries.

Investigators have also uncovered evidence indicating the Athurugiriya shooting was allegedly directed by an organised criminal and drug trafficker currently living overseas, Ada Derana reported. The outlet did not name that person, and did not say whether it is the same figure referred to in the earlier reporting on this case. The Western Province South Division Crime Unit is continuing its investigations.

One detail does not line up across the reporting. Ada Derana’s September 2 account places the August 17 shooting in the Malawiyakanda Road area of the Athurugiriya Police Division, where its own earlier report and Hiru News located it on Seelalankara Mawatha in Habarakada. Both accounts agree on the date, the police division, the use of a motorcycle and the organised-crime link; neither outlet noted the difference in street.

Context

The shooting is the latest in a series of gun attacks linked by police to organised criminal networks. Officers foiled a shooting attempt at a Dehiwala bakery earlier this month.

Neither Ada Derana nor Hiru News named the victim or the hotel involved.

Sources