Soldier commits suicide after claiming he killed Lasantha

A soldier in the Sri Lanka Army hung himself today, after claiming he was responsible for the murder of former Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickremetunga.

The body of the retired 51-year-old soldier was found in his home in Kegalle this morning, alongside a note, claiming his complicity. 

The note also absolved Prema Ananda Udulagama, the intelligence officer arrested two months ago in relation to the murder, from involvement.

The note, in Sinhalese, is reproduced below:

Transcript of the note:

To whom it may concern.

I murdered Lasantha Wickremetunga; my friend Prema Ananda Udulagama is not guilty, so release him.

Ensure this is given to the intelligence unit.

The body of the father-of –three, identified as Illandarige Edirisinghe, is currently lying at the Kegalle Hospital.

Wickrematunga was set upon by armed men on the morning of January 8, 2009, and brutally murdered.

The case saw little progress in the last years but is seeing light under the new government.

Army intelligence officer Prema Ananda Udulagama was arrested on July 16, and the body of Lasantha Wickremetunga was exhumed to enable further forensic evidence.

The intelligence officer – identified in a lineup as prime suspect in the Upali Tennakoon assault incident, was granted bail by the Gampaha Magistrate this morning.

Upali Tennakoon, the former Editor of the Rivira and Divaina newspapers, was assaulted on his way to work in January 2009, weeks after Lasantha Wickrematunga’s murder.