Police investigations have revealed that the person who was shot and killed at the Mount Queens Hotel in Haputale on Tuesday night (22) was a witness who gave evidence before Court in which four members of the same family who hacked to death a 19-year-old youth in Devinuwara were sentenced to death.
He had testified in the case involving the murder of A.P.Seneviratne (47) in the case 167/10 in Matara High Court.Police say that the murder was done with a pistol and 22 empty ammunition casings were found scattered around the place of the shooting.
The owner of the hotel Chamal Suranga (47) was also injured and admitted to Diyatalawa Hospital.
SSP Nihal Thalduwa stated that this person had received death threats from the relatives of the people who were sentenced to death in the Matara High Court case.
The Court had also given an order to the Victim Protection Authority to provide the necessary protection to this person based on the threats to his life due to being a witness.
Police had deployed two armed guards to protect him 24 hours a day. Apart from that, Thalduwa said that a police mobile travel notebook is also kept in his house.
Police said that this person had basically asked for protection only in Gandara area and accordingly the Police had provided protection whenever he was staying in Gandara.
According to the investigation, this person had been staying at the Haputale hotel for about one and a half years as an assistant to the owner.
Police said the shooting took place on Tuesday (22) between 6 and 7.00 pm and a group of five people were involved in it.
Gayan Kumara Weerasinghe
