An ex-LTTE cadre Sumathipala Suresh Kumar, alias Thavendran ‘Murali’, has told a three-member bench of the Colombo High Court, hearing the disappearance of media personality Prageeth Ekneligoda, that during the war they discussed plans to assassinate President Mahinda Rajapaksa and a group of government people. The alleged meeting took place in Habarana.

The bench consisted of A.G.U.S. N. K. Seneviratne (Chairperson), Dr. Nalin Hewawasam and Lakmali Hewawasam.Kumar said so giving evidence as the fourth witness on behalf of first, second and sixth accused in this case.

Ekneligoda disappeared on the eve of 2010 January 26 presidential election.

Kumar told court that Ekneligoda proposed to fire a missile at an aircraft carrying President Rajapaksa and other top people. There had been another person, identified as Nadan, there.

Asked by the prosecution whether he served as a leader of LTTE intelligence at the time he met Ekneligoda, Kumar said that he was a prisoner at that time. The witness claimed that he had gone with the Army and it was his first visit to that place where the meeting took place.

When the prosecution proposed that what he said was not true, Kumar denied that.

The nine accused are Army officers and men, including Lieutenant Colonel Shammi Arjun Kumararatne. The others are R.M.P.K. Rajapaksa alias Nathan, W.V. Priyantha Dilanjan Upasena alias Suresh, Seneviratne Mudiyanselage Ravindra Rupasena alias Ranji, Yapa Mudiyanselage Chaminda Kumara Abeyratne, Seneviratne Mudiyanselage Kanishka Gunaratne, Aiyasami Balasubramaniyam, Dangaha Gamaralage Tharanga Prasad Gamage and T.E.R. Peiris.

The fourth witness surrendered to the Army in May 2009 and during investigations it transpired that he was used by Military Intelligence to contact Ekneligoda in a bid to ascertain his intention during the presidential polls campaign.

India rules out reopening agreements

Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekaran has welcomed the Indian declaration as regards the status of Katchatheevu.

The NPPer appreciated New Delhi’s stand during the debate on the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Bill recently. The Minister called the dismissal of DMK and AIADMK bid to regain Katchatheevu a historic decision.

The Indian government has told the Supreme Court it will not reopen the agreements under which Katchatheevu was ceded to Sri Lanka, citing its “excellent relationship” with Colombo, as the court told New Delhi and Tamil Nadu to make fishermen aware of the maritime boundary.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva was hearing petitions, pending since 2008, that challenge the “unconstitutional ceding” of Katchatheevu under the 1974 maritime agreement and the 1976 agreement that restricted Indian fishermen’s rights in Sri Lankan waters. Senior Advocate P. Wilson, for the petitioners, argued that because the 1974 agreement transferred territory, it required an amendment to the Indian Constitution.

India’s Attorney General, R. Venkataramani, said the government did not want to reopen the issue and that India had an “excellent relationship” with Sri Lanka it did not want to spoil. He told the court that concerns involving Indian fishermen were being pursued through diplomatic channels, but that India could not compel Sri Lanka to accept its position.

“Fishermen are told not to go into the territorial waters of Sri Lanka, they still venture there,” he said, adding that depleted fish stocks and pollution on the Indian side were driving them across the boundary. “We are polluting our seas. They are not coming here.”

“Either you sensitise the fishermen to not go beyond a particular point,” Justice Kumar said. Tamil Nadu’s counsel argued that the central government should resolve the issue with Sri Lanka. The court did not rule on the validity of the agreements, and the case will be heard again in February 2027.

Police have arrested a person on suspicion over an incident where 54-year-old restaurant owner Thushara Sampath, was shot dead near his business place at Nagoda, on 09 October. The arrest was made at Navaladi, in the Batticaloa area. Police commandos arrested him while he was travelling in a bus bound for Batticaloa.

The suspected gunman was produced before the Valaichenai Magistrate court and police obtained a detention order for five days.

The wife of the businessman, who received gunshot injuries, succumbed to her injuries yesterday (11) while receiving treatment at the Nagoda hospital. She was 52.

The two victims were shot around 7.40 a.m., on 9 Oct. Two unidentified persons arrived on a motorcycle and one of them opened fire with a T-56 assault rifle before fleeing the scene.

Sources said that the businessman had been in contact with a person identified as Bombuwala Naveen widely believed to be a narcotics dealer. Sources said he had lost an eye a few years ago as a result of an acid attack.

Meanwhile, police said that two close associates of Bombuwala Naveen had been arrested in connection with the ongoing investigation.