Informants in Akuregoda twin murder, arrested

2026-02-16 - 17:30

Police today (16) arrested two brothers from the same family, residents of Nawagamuwa, who allegedly transported the firearm used in the murder of a lawyer and his wife in Akuregoda, Talangama, and facilitated the gunmen involved in the crime. Police stated that these two brothers had also provided intelligence regarding the location of the lawyer’s vehicle. A team of officers from the Western South Crimes Division apprehended the two youths in the Kottawa area this afternoon while they were travelling in a car. The suspects, identified as Nadun Kavisha and Sanoj Kokila of Nawagamuwa, are aged 20 and 27, respectively. Interrogations of the two have revealed a significant amount of information related to the murder of the lawyer. Police further stated that the brothers were operating an “ice” (crystal methamphetamine) drug trafficking network locally on behalf of two overseas-based criminals, Tharindu Madhusanka, alias “Tutu”, and another known as “Modara Nipuna”. According to investigations, the two overseas criminals had contacted the brothers and instructed them: “Hire a vehicle for seven days; there is a job from ‘Sudda aiya’ that needs to be done.” Accordingly, the brothers had visited an institution in Kottawa and obtained a black motor car on a rental basis. Subsequently, another individual had contacted them and instructed them to go to a location in Kotikawatta and collect a parcel containing firearms, which would be handed over from a three-wheeler arriving there. They were then instructed to take the parcel to the vicinity of the supermarket near where the lawyer was later murdered. On the day of the shooting, a few hours before the incident, the brothers had gone near the supermarket in Akuregoda and handed over the parcel containing firearms to another car parked nearby. Police investigations have revealed that the brothers had been aware for about a week that the firearms were to be used to assassinate the lawyer. Further investigations uncovered that the lawyer would leave daily between 4.30 p.m. and 5.00 p.m. after picking up his wife from her office. The brothers had kept watch on the lawyer’s vehicle and, on the day of the shooting, informed the gunmen that the vehicle had been parked in the supermarket car park. Thereafter, the vehicle carrying the gunmen had arrived at the location and carried out the killing of the lawyer and his wife. Meanwhile, the two brothers had left the scene and travelled towards Hokandara. Through CCTV footage and other evidence, the Western South Crimes Division established that the firearms used by the gunmen had been supplied via the rented vehicle used by the brothers. Accordingly, the suspects were on their way this afternoon to return the car to the Kottawa institution from which it had been rented for seven days, when police officers who had been trailing them took the vehicle into custody and arrested both individuals. Further questioning of the suspects also revealed information about the gunmen involved in the shooting. One of the gunmen had arrived at a hotel in Pannipitiya three days prior to the shooting, while the two brothers had later visited the same hotel and provided him with “ice” drugs and other necessary facilities. The other gunman had arrived at the hotel on the very day the shooting took place, police revealed. Accordingly, investigations indicate that the brothers did not receive money for facilitating the murder, but were instead supplied with “ice” narcotics. Police stated that the two suspects, who are themselves users of “ice”, had also been engaged in drug trafficking. Further investigations are being carried out by the Western South Crimes Division under the direct supervision of Acting Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasooriya, under the direction of Senior Deputy Inspector General in charge of the Western Province Sajeeva Medawatte, and with guidance from Deputy Inspector General in charge of the Western South Division Samantha Wijesekera.