Update: Two brothers reveal details about the Akuregoda murder plan.

Two brothers from the same family, who directly aided and abetted the shooting and killing of a lawyer and his wife in the Thalangama, Akuregoda area, were arrested yesterday (16) in the Kottawa area by officers of the Western South Criminal Division. The arrested individuals are Nadun Kaveesha and Sanoj Kokila, two youths aged 20 and 24, residents of the Navagamuwa area.

Serious charges have been leveled against them, including transporting the firearms used for the murder, providing necessary facilities to the shooters, and providing intelligence to the killers about where the lawyer's vehicle was parked.

During police interrogations, a lot of crucial information regarding this double murder has been revealed, and the suspect brothers have been identified as operators of the local 'Ice' drug network belonging to overseas criminals Tharindu Madusanka alias 'Tutoo' and 'Modara Nipuna'. The overseas criminals had instructed them to obtain a car on rent for a period of seven days, saying, "Sudda Aiya has a job, it needs to be done." Accordingly, these brothers rented a black car from an establishment in the Kottawa area, and later, following a phone call from another person, went to the Kotikawatta area and received a parcel containing firearms from someone who arrived in a three-wheeler.

Investigations have confirmed that these brothers were aware about a week prior that the lawyer would be killed using the said firearms. The suspects had thoroughly spied on the lawyer, observing that he picked up his wife from her workplace and departed daily between 4:30 PM and 5:00 PM. Subsequently, a few hours before the shooting, they went near the Akuregoda supermarket and handed over the parcel containing the firearms to another car parked there. It was also these two who provided information to the shooters that the lawyer's vehicle was parked in the supermarket's parking lot on that day.

By the time the shooters killed the lawyer and his wife, these two brothers had left the scene and were traveling towards Hokandara. However, the Western South Criminal Division, conducting an extensive investigation using CCTV footage and other technical evidence related to the murder, successfully identified the rented car that brought the firearms to the shooters. Accordingly, yesterday afternoon, as they were on their way to return the said car to the rental agency in Kottawa after the 7-day rental period had ended, the police pursued the vehicle and took the two suspects into custody.

Further investigations conducted with the arrested suspects have revealed important details about the shooters. According to this, one shooter had arrived at a hotel in the Pannipitiya area three days before the murder, while the other person arrived there on the day of the shooting. These brothers provided the shooters with 'Ice' drugs and other necessary facilities. However, the police state that they did not receive any money for facilitating this crime; instead, they were given 'Ice' drugs.

Further investigations into this incident are being carried out by the Western South Criminal Division under the direct supervision of Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasuriya, guided by Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police Sajeeva Medawatta, who is in charge of the Western Province, and Deputy Inspector General of Police Samantha Wijesekara, who is in charge of the Western South Division. Meanwhile, the final rites of the lawyer and his wife, who lost their lives in this attack, were performed yesterday afternoon at the Godamuna family cemetery in Pitigala.