Lakmadhura Hotel Owner's Murder: 'Loan Interest' Issue

Out of 44 shootings that have occurred in the country so far this year, 39 were carried out by organized crime gangs. While 26 people lost their lives and 23 others were injured in these attacks, the shadow of death once again fell upon the Soysapura area of Moratuwa on the night of the day before yesterday (20th).

It was around 8:30 PM. An armed individual suddenly stormed into a restaurant located in the Soysapura apartment complex, shot the hotel owner, who was near the cashier's seat, in the head with a T56 firearm, and fled. A woman who was eating at the hotel at the time of the attack was also shot and injured. The hotel owner had already ended his life's journey by the time he was taken to Kalubowila Teaching Hospital.

The person thus murdered was a 49-year-old businessman named Pinnawala Appuhamilage Lasantha Kumara, a resident of Lakshapathiya, Moratuwa. Police state that the ten-sovereign gold chain he was wearing at the time of the murder is also missing.

This was not the first time Lasantha Kumara was targeted by underworld firearms. Previously, on May 18 and May 29, 2020, two shootings targeting him occurred. In the second attack, his hotel was assaulted, and its windows, television sets, and 3 chairs were completely destroyed, even while a police team was deployed for the hotel's security. Having abandoned his business and fled to a distant area due to death threats, he reopened his hotel in Soysapura only after Alto Dharme, an underworld leader who had threatened him, was arrested by Dubai police a few months ago. However, that freedom did not last long.

Behind this murder are many complex suspicions spanning various directions. For a long time, Anju of Ratmalana, also known as Kudu Anju, and Alto Dharme had been threatening this businessman, demanding ransom. Initially, Dharme and Anju attacked him due to his connections with a rival underworld leader, Gonakovile Roha, but investigations have revealed that he later developed close ties with those criminals as well.

Due to this dual relationship, Gonakovile Roha's faction had a strong disagreement with him. It is also said that there was a dispute between the two parties regarding a money transaction, and during this time, the businessman received death threats from Russell Smith, a powerful criminal from Roha's faction. The crisis further escalated recently with the leak of an audio recording of a discussion between a person named Sangu, the brother of a national cricket team player, and Russell Smith, concerning firearms trafficking and the underworld. Investigators have a strong suspicion that Russell Smith, suspecting this businessman provided the audio recording, might have orchestrated this murder through an organized criminal named I.D. Furthermore, investigators are also focusing on whether Anju and Dharme feigned friendship and orchestrated this according to their plan.

In addition to these underworld conflicts, another strong suspicion exists for the investigative units. Information has been received that the murdered businessman also ran a high-interest money lending business and had forcibly taken possession of houses, lands, and vehicles from individuals who could not repay their loans. For this reason, the police are diligently investigating whether a vengeful party, driven to extreme desperation, committed this crime using contract killers. Furthermore, information reveals that he was involved in various other illegal activities.

After the shooting, the escape of the contract killers became very chaotic. Their Nissan car, driving towards Piliyandala, collided with a motorcycle in front of Moratuwa University and was damaged, but they continued without stopping. However, near the Suwarapola Bodhi in Piliyandala, the car's front tire deflated due to a mechanical fault, forcing them to abandon the vehicle. They attempted to stop a Dimo Batta type lorry driving on the road, but when it didn't stop, the killers shot the lorry driver. The driver was unharmed and fled. Subsequently, they intimidated a PickMe taxi motorcyclist who was nearby, fired a shot into the air, robbed his motorcycle, and escaped on it.

The stolen motorcycle also ran out of fuel and stopped in the Siddamulla area of Piliyandala, and the suspects abandoned the motorcycle there and fled. Investigations have revealed that from there, they boarded a bus traveling from Kottawa to Piliyandala and escaped. The car used for the attack, the stolen motorcycle, and four empty T56 casings found at the crime scene were recovered by the police yesterday.

Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Western Province, Sajeeva Medawatta, visited the crime scene on the very night of the murder. Under his and Mount Lavinia Senior Superintendent of Police Ashoka Gunasekara's instructions, several police teams as well as Police Special Task Force teams have already launched an extensive operation. Assistant Superintendent of Police Wickramasinghe, Mount Lavinia Headquarters Chief Inspector Sumedha Wimalagunarathne, and Chief Inspector Nilantha Gamage, OIC of the Mount Lavinia Divisional Criminal Investigation Unit, are involved in these investigations. No suspects have been arrested yet, and investigative units are working tirelessly to determine whether this murder, which remains a mystery, is the result of an internal underworld conflict or an act of revenge by those who lost property.

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