{"id":165841,"date":"2016-07-27T21:09:03","date_gmt":"2016-07-27T15:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=165841"},"modified":"2016-07-28T10:57:47","modified_gmt":"2016-07-28T05:27:47","slug":"confusion-reigns-as-lasanthas-driver-identifies-army-officer-as-his-abductor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/confusion-reigns-as-lasanthas-driver-identifies-army-officer-as-his-abductor\/","title":{"rendered":"Confusion Reigns As Lasantha\u2019s \u2018Driver\u2019 Identifies Army Officer As His Abductor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There was much confusion amidst reports that a person who claimed to be the driver of Sunday Leader Founder Editor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Lasantha+Wickrematunge&amp;x=13&amp;y=4\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Lasantha Wickrematunge<\/span><\/a> had identified the Army Intelligence Officer Premananda Udalagama as his abductor.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_136456\" style=\"width: 347px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/six-years-after-lasanthas-death-sri-lanka-to-decide-if-rajapaksa-is-to-win-a-third-term\/mahinda-wijedasa-and-lasantha\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-136456\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-136456\" class=\"wp-image-136456\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Mahinda-Wijedasa-and-Lasantha-837x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Lasntha with Mahinda and Wiyedasa\" width=\"337\" height=\"412\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Mahinda-Wijedasa-and-Lasantha-837x1024.jpg 837w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Mahinda-Wijedasa-and-Lasantha-245x300.jpg 245w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Mahinda-Wijedasa-and-Lasantha-800x978.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Mahinda-Wijedasa-and-Lasantha.jpg 892w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 337px) 100vw, 337px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-136456\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lasantha with Mahinda and Wiyedasa<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Wickrematunge was driving the car himself at the time of his assassination in January 2009, and there have been no reports that confirm the abduction of this driver.<\/p>\n<p>When the Colombo Telegraph contacted SP Ruwan Gunasekera, he said that as the CID was currently conducting investigations, and as the investigations had not concluded there were limitations on commenting on the case.<\/p>\n<p>When queried as to how more information can be obtained in this regard including verification over claims that Wickrematunge\u2019s driver was abducted, Gunasekera said, \u201cYou can request for more information from the IGP by writing to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Today, a person who claims to be the driver of Wickrematunge identified the Army Intelligence Officer as the person who allegedly abducted him. The driver identified the suspect who is a Sergeant-Major during an identification parade in the presence of the Mount Lavinia Additional Magistrate. Subsequently, Udalagama was further remanded till August 3, 2016 by Mount Lavinia Chief Magistrate Mohamed Sahabdeen.<\/p>\n<p>The CID arrested Udalagama this month claiming that he was involved in the murder.<\/p>\n<p>In May, IGP Pujith Jayasundara issued a gag order on the police media unit, including the official spokesman.<\/p>\n<p>Wickrematunge, a strong critic of the government under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was killed in January 2009 while on his way to work.<strong><em>\u00a0( By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Munza+Mushtaq&amp;x=7&amp;y=4\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Munza Mushtaq<\/span><\/a> @ Colombo Telegraph )\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":136456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2186,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-featured-news","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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