Former Police Inspector Jagath Nishantha, who had been overseas evading court in connection with the W15 shooting, was arrested at Katunayake.

Former Police Inspector Jagath Nishantha, who was abroad evading court in connection with the shooting incident that caused a great stir recently near the W15 Hotel in Weligama, has been arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department at Katunayake Airport. This officer, who served attached to the Colombo Crimes Division, was thus caught by the law when he returned to Sri Lanka yesterday (23).

This tragic incident was reported on December 31, 2023, in the Pelena area of Weligama. In connection with the said shooting incident, seven other police officers, including former IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon, were named as suspects by the Matara Magistrate's Court, and Jagath Nishantha was also a key suspect included in that list.

Although the other police officers involved in this case had previously surrendered to the court and submitted to legal procedures, this former police inspector had fled the country and taken steps to hide with the intention of escaping the law. Accordingly, he, who had been evading investigations for a long time, was finally taken into custody by officers of the Criminal Investigation Department at the moment he arrived on the island.

The root cause of this incident that occurred in Weligama on that day is an unexpected clash that arose between the two teams: the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) and the Weligama local police. Investigations have confirmed that this deadly shootout was created due to a raid carried out by the Colombo Crimes Division team in the form of a military operation based on illegal instructions, without informing the local police. In that unfortunate incident, Police Sergeant Upul Chaminda Kumara lost his life after being shot by the Weligama Police.