The suspect over the murder of journalist Mel Gunasekera arrested in Dompe by Mirihana Special Crimes Unit, the Police spokesman said a short while ago. The suspect had been identified as Samson Anthony. According to the police, the Blackberry phone of the murdered journalist found in possession of the suspect. Mirihana Police says the suspect was a mason who worked at her house a few weeks ago.
Mel
Former Agence France Presse (AFP) Journalist Mel Gunasekera has been found murdered in her home in Battaramulla, a suburb of Colombo this morning.
According to the police the murder was as a result of a failed robbery attempt. While working at her home, the suspect Samson Anthony had noticed that the entire family attended church from 6.15am to 9am every Sunday. Today morning he had arrived at the house with the intention of stealing and the murdered journalist had confronted him.
Related posts;
Sri Lanka AFP Journalist Murdered In Her Home
Pasel / February 2, 2014
Who is the innocent under false charges ?
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Chuti / February 2, 2014
Pasel,
Pre-judgment is not a good thing for anything….You suspect everything , I am sure you don’t trust your family…
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John / February 3, 2014
Just let police do it’s job, don’t go for conclusions.
Yes, this regime is covering up murders but she wasn’t a political columnist.
Wait a while before jumping the gun against govt; if not real murderer would escape.
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sarojini / February 3, 2014
EVERY MURDER IN SL IF IT HAPPENS TO BE A JOURNALIST IS AN ACT IOF THE GOVERNMENT. Sl is a country full of
Clever psychics. Worth noting this for future use.
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gonsal / February 3, 2014
Gota
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rewa / February 3, 2014
The robbers in SL only target Journalists. This is what happens when robbers are in government.
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Ben Hurling / February 2, 2014
In country run by a corrupt family regime, cronies, henchmen & clowns.
Where rule of law has totally broken down, Sri Lanka Police a highly crime ridden Institute itself, being so efficient is bound to raise not only eyebrows. But justifiable suspicions too!
UNHRC session in March looking very bleak indeed.
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Probono Publico / February 3, 2014
well to be frank this could just be a non political murder and a pure criminal act hence the police were free to investigate properly and arrest the culprit! (just my thought as whenever there is no interference SL Police have done a good job)
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OutRider / February 2, 2014
Hey- War Crime Mongers, Human Rights Peddlers & Pseudo Journalists:
You’re destroying any credibility still left in your self-serving, snobbish, middle-class campaign in treasonous collusion with foreign enemies against your own country and your own people by betraying your overeagerness to point fingers. You think anybody would buy your story of a government murdering a journalist just before it faces a staged drama of war crimes allegations at Geneva? Don’t be that dumb. Or are you part of a diabolical plan being hatched against Sri Lanka to pave the way for “humanitarian” intervention?
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OutRider / February 2, 2014
My sincere condolences to Ms. Mel Gunesekera’s family and loved ones.
The government should take all measures necessary to apprehend swiftly whoever is responsible for this dastardly crime and bring them before the law.
In the meantime I would like to appeal to all our beloved CT community members not to politicize a personal tragedy and denigrate the memory of a true professional and a fine human being.
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Maveeran / February 3, 2014
Hello Sinha-lame nob-rider. These issues has to be addressed and the route cause for these murders has to be looked into. I believe its the Sinhala Government behind this Mel’s murder too, similar to Lasantha’s.
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Thondamanaru / February 2, 2014
Good work by the Police.
Give us more info.
Probably the Mason must be a kudu karaya.
May MG’s soul rest in peace
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Pasel / February 2, 2014
Chuti
How many un solved murders in Sri Lanka not even an arrest ?
You might listen and follow the regime but average people are not going to buy this
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gamini / February 2, 2014
The Mobile Phone has become a convenient tool to insert to identify the suspect when the Police want to solve the murder. Lasantha’s murder also they tried the Phone tac tic but did not work. The poor chap died in custody.
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shankar / February 3, 2014
Gamini,you may be right.This smells a bit.Why would that fellow have her mobile when he could have got so many valuable things.Any fool knows nowadays not to touch a mobile.Sunday she is killed and monday he is found with her mobile.No doubt now that srilankan police force is the best in the world.
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sirimal / February 3, 2014
Hardly believe all these knowing that the manner the lanken police has been in terms of various set of of crime handlings sofar – to have found the killer of the current murder- within few hours.
May be all this is to show UNHRC, that the police is making genuine efforts today than in the past where pollice has almost lost all respect among the nation, not to have worked adequately even in other high crime murders.
These could well all be red herrings.
Later they would come up with the facts – saying that police failed to find the accused.
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Myrna / February 2, 2014
a phone ? if that dumb ass had asked for it.with just a threat she would have given it. He did not gain, nothing! no phone no life now!!!!! mental disability many Sri Lankan suffer from.
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Rationalist / February 4, 2014
Have the Police checked what else has been stolen from the House? The suspect may have grabbed the phone when she tried to phone the Police.
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Naqeeb / February 3, 2014
It is too early to come to a concluson.
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lex / February 3, 2014
A sham suspect as USUAL
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sillysil / February 3, 2014
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Edmund Burke.
We see, we hear and we talk about the evils that prevail. Are we to stand idly by as our nation and our home is pulled back to the dark ages by men of no conscience? This begs the question at least to myself, are we as a people, regardless of religion or race, not destined for a better future. Is it innate in us as Sri Lankans to pull our selves back every time there’s a glimmer of hope and hinder any progress demanded as a people of a nation in the 21st Century.
It is a hard question to hear, I admit but like i said often i cannot help my self but ask it and wonder. We have not in my view grasped the concept of democracy and the liberties of a free society.The post colonial mind set we still struggle to give up. Unless we changed our ways of thinking,try to comprehend what it truly means to live in a free and liberal society, democracy has, and will remain completely and utterly redundant to us.
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crazyoldmansl / February 3, 2014
Masons are masons not robbers or murderers. The police should know that.
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Rationalist / February 4, 2014
Why did a Mason carry two knives into the house?
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007 / February 3, 2014
seems like police knew the man even before the incident.
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Devion / February 3, 2014
A mason? probably a ”free” mason from the luminous hierarchy of our damned country.
We are in the same BLOODY hands for so long! CHANGE is the immediate necessity.
Is colombotelegraph still blocked btw?
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Faris / February 3, 2014
Our Lankans are very clever at jumping to conclusions. The police have done an excellent job in apprehending the suspect. Except for a few at the lower rungs of tyhe service, the officers at the top end are very professional in their duty and leave no stone unturned in their investigations. In fact they could be compared to Scotland Yard and MI 5 with regard to their professionalism. We should indeed be proud of them.
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Kota Pora / February 3, 2014
There is a lot of sense in
what Outrider has said.However,
there is one thing – It took
the Police emergency one long,
long hour to respond. To say
the least, the Government does
not react to such situations
and rectify matters whether
it is a Johnny or a journalist
who had died.
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davefranco / February 3, 2014
Have we got a Sri Lankan Troy Davis in the making of
an innocent guilty ????
http://youtu.be/T59p1n-tS3w?
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davefranco / February 3, 2014
Chuti -too small so his brain to think?
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bo / February 3, 2014
Face the facts!
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Nafeez Iqbal / February 3, 2014
Don’t be quick to take judgements and relate everything to politics eventhough how much we hate the present regime. It is said there are some CCTV footages on this which the family members have correctly identified the person.
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Q-A-S-S-I-M / February 3, 2014
People should be a bit cautious when trying to make fun of the world’s most powerful fraternity which a lot of people have no real knowledge of & has always been attacked by religious fanatics rather.
It is not very funny to insult them.
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THE GREAT HERO MAHAVEERAN MY FOOT / February 3, 2014
The great Hero – turned out to be the worst great coward when he was exposed.
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Maveeran -is the worst on this forum when it comes to insults on everyone who is not guilty of any crime but simply because they belong to a community of few people or a person .
Of cause he can call himself mahaweeran (Great Hero) he lives overseas , behind the screen of his PC or laptop , the real mahaweeran are people living in Sri Lanka and willing to show their dis approvals here on CT agianst anyhting that they feel is injustices ,because unlike the people overseas they do have a great risk.
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gamini / February 3, 2014
MORE ON THE MURDER
According to news in the DM today it is said the suspect has walked through the front door which was not locked. There are four dogs that have been barking non stop and the screams heard by the neighbours. Further the suspect possibly caught in the CCTV of a neighbour. Was that CCTV do surveillance on Mel’s house or of the owner’s? If the neighbours heard screams and the sound of the dog’s barking, looks strange why they did not probe as they would not have had to wait long for the family to return from Church, maximum an hour and the neighbours would have seen the suspect and possibly apprehended him.
POINTS TO PONDER
At a time the MR Govt is cooking up statistics to show Foreign Donor Agencies a rosy picture of the country’s economy, to help obtain further funding to the MR Govt, was Mel Gunasekara working for Fitch Ratings and AFP a stumbling block?
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Aman Faris / February 3, 2014
I feel so sad over the death of Mel Gunasekera. My heartfelt condolences go out to the family.
Under the circs prevailing in Sri Lanka it is easy to jump to conclusions and I agree with anybody who says that all he robbed was a phone and committed a brutal crime like murder for a phone and about a thousand bucks? Makes one suspicious. Maybe the family might have something to say. Let’s wait and see.
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anton / February 4, 2014
On one side in Sittwe, capital of Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine, people lead a common life: They’re free to go wherever they please, marry whomever they want, and to attend religious ceremonies in their Buddhist temple of choice. On the other side, there’s a different story… Read more: http://aje.me/1frbtyl
Myanmar’s Buddhist-Rohingya ethnic divide
aje.me
Displaced Rohingya Muslims struggle with persecution and Buddhist
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HALAL &THAYAB / February 5, 2014
[Edited out]
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