Lasantha Wickremetunge assassination case taken up in Mount Lavinia court
The case pertaining to the 2009 assassination of journalist Lasantha Wickremetunge was taken up at the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court on Monday. As per a request made by the Criminal Investigations Department at the previous hearing of the case, clarifications were sought today from Military Intelligence and the Commando Regiment.
The Magistrate ordered today that a report on the progress of the investigation and relevant information, be submitted to court on July 12. The case was postponed until August 4.
Meanwhile Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa gave evidence in court today, when the case pertaining to the December 1, 2006 bomb attack at the Piththala Junction in Colombo, was taken up in court.
The case was taken up before Judge Irangani Perera at the special High Court.
Giving evidence in court today, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa noted that the incident occurred while he was en route to a meeting of the Security Council at Temple Trees, accompanied by a security convoy comprising of two Defenders and three motorcycles.
He noted that when the explosion occurred at the Piththala junction, one of the members of his security detail was in front of his vehicle, while there were two more on either side of the vehicle.
Rajapaksa added that there were soldiers in both Defenders.
He stated that he heard a loud explosion at the Piththala Junction and that he witnessed that the motorcycle in front of his vehicle was on fire.He noted that while the doors of his bullet-proof car could not be opened, the soldiers travelling in the Defenders had removed the doors to extricate him from the vehicle.
The former Defence Secretary noted that he was later informed that two of the officers on the motorcycles and the driver of one of the defenders had been killed, while nine soldiers were injured. He noted that the soldiers in the Defender had taken him to Temple Trees.
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