{"id":167354,"date":"2016-09-08T12:29:11","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T06:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=167354"},"modified":"2016-09-09T18:45:38","modified_gmt":"2016-09-09T13:15:38","slug":"gotas-man-duminda-silva-and-four-others-sentenced-to-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotas-man-duminda-silva-and-four-others-sentenced-to-death\/","title":{"rendered":"“Gota’s Man” Duminda Silva And Four Others Sentenced To Death"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former monitoring MP of the Ministry of Defence Duminda Silva<\/span><\/a> and 4 others were sentenced to death by the Colombo High Court today in a divided judgement over the Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra<\/span><\/a> murder.<\/p>\n

\"Duminda<\/a>

Duminda and Gota<\/p><\/div>\n

Premachandra was murdered in 2011.<\/p>\n

In October 2011 the Colombo Telegraph reported<\/a><\/span> how Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had said that Silva was not his man, but was former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ‘man.’<\/p>\n

He had made this statement to both Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and former Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickamanayake.<\/p>\n

Informed sources told Colombo Telegraph that Just before his murder, Premachandra had complained to the President that Duminda Silva had given a contract to underworld thugs to murder him. President Rajapaksa had subsequently ordered the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to investigate the alleged murder plot. Two underworld gangsters who were in police custody at that time had given statements to the CID confirming the murder plot.<\/p>\n