Osman reveals the reasons that incited him to kill Sanjeewa

Taking a life within a courtroom, which is like a temple where justice is dispensed, is not merely a murder but a grave challenge to the entire legal system.

Sixty-nine-year-old 'Gampaha Osman' alias Osman Gunasekara, who is said to have aided and abetted the assassination of underworld strongman Makilangamuve Sanjeeva Kumara Samaratne alias 'Ganemulla Sanjeeva' inside the dock of the Aluthkade Court in Colombo on February 19 last year by providing a pistol, was arrested yesterday (14) morning by the Colombo Crimes Division. The arrest took place at his home on Bodhi Road, Gampaha, and a Turkish-made repeater type firearm, two magazines, and ten live rounds hidden there were also taken into police custody.

Although it was stated that the weapon belonged to his wife's brother, the police are conducting further investigations to confirm whether it was the same weapon used in this crime.

This assassination plot unfolded in a manner surpassing a Hollywood movie. A woman named Ishara Sewwandi, disguised as a lawyer, carried a firearm hidden in a law book and handed it over to the shooter, who was also disguised as a lawyer. Sanjeeva's life was then ended inside the dock. The shooter was arrested by the Police Special Task Force in Puttalam, and the lawyer and Sewwandi who aided him are currently in custody.

Behind this assassination lies a long-standing underworld blood feud. Gampaha Osman is someone who narrowly escaped death from gunshot attacks by Ganemulla Sanjeeva's associates on three previous occasions. In 2018, one of his associates was seriously injured when his vehicle was shot at in Kirindiwela. An attempt to assassinate him during a Sinhala New Year festival in 2024 was thwarted when five suspects, along with four T-56 automatic firearms, were apprehended by a team led by then-Police Inspector W.A. Piyasiri of the Western North Crimes Division.

Investigations have revealed that Osman conspired this retaliatory attack against the enemy who sought to kill him, in collaboration with other underworld strongmen such as Kehelbaddara Padma, Batuwatte Chamara, and Commando Salindu, who were recently brought back to the country from abroad. Crucial information about Osman was disclosed by Batuwatte Chamara, who was brought back to the island by the CID last Sunday while he was hiding in a foreign country.

Under the instructions of Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police Sajeeva Medawatta, in charge of the Western Province, and Deputy Inspector General of Police Nishantha de Zoysa, in charge of the Colombo District, and led by Senior Superintendent of Police Loku Hetti, Director of the Colombo Crimes Division, Chief Inspectors Aruna Krishantha and Kapila, the OIC of the Organized Crime Investigation Unit, are conducting this extensive investigation.

Launching assassination plots within court premises is not an unfamiliar experience for Gampaha Osman. About three decades ago, on November 25, 1991, he was also the main suspect in the shooting and killing of Sub-Inspector Dhammika Prasanna Chandrasena, then OIC of Weeragula Police, and his father-in-law S.P.H. Wijesekera, the United National Party opposition leader of the Gampaha Pradeshiya Sabha, inside the Attanagalla Court.

At that time, Police Headquarters had offered a reward of five hundred thousand rupees to anyone who would apprehend him. Osman, who had fled and was hiding in Japan, was brought back to the country on December 18, 1993, by then-Gampaha Superintendent of Police (later Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police) Gamini de Silva and Assistant Superintendent of Police Nishanka Dharmaratne of the CID. However, after a lengthy trial, Osman was acquitted and released.

Osman Gunasekara, who had been spending his time watching a film based on his life story currently being screened, now has to face his past again under police interrogation, following a seventy-two-hour detention order. The mystery of exactly whose hands he placed the firearm in to kill Sanjeeva still remains.

Although the eyes of the goddess of justice are blindfolded, time is repeatedly proving that the shadows of a bloody past can never be hidden forever.