• Initial probe into the four shootings point to underworld and personal disputes
• However, no suspects were arrested over the four shootings

BY DARSHANA SANJEEWA BALASURIYA

Initial investigations have revealed that four shooting incidents reported in several areas of the country within a few hours are linked to underworld and personal disputes.

Police Spokesman DIG Nihal Thalduwa said that four individuals were killed and two others injured in four separate shootings in Tangalle, Kalubowila, Midigama, and Kurunegala between 7:30 pm on Wednesday (18) and the following morning. He, however, ruled out any connection to election-related violence. On Wednesday night, a 43-year-old shop owner was killed in Kalubowila when two unidentified men on a motorcycle opened fire inside his shop on Saranankara Road. The victim, a resident of Dehiwala, was rushed to Colombo South Teaching Hospital but succumbed to his injuries. Meanwhile, a 38-year-old man was killed, and two others injured, when two men opened fire at a fish stall in Midigama, Matara on Thursday (19) morning. The assailants arrived on a motorcycle and targeted the stall. The fish stall owner, a resident of Goviyapana, later died in Karapitiya Hospital. The two injured customers are receiving treatment and the Midigama Police are investigating, to arrest the suspects. Initial investigations revealed that both shootings were orchestrated by an underworld figure operating overseas. In another incident, a 30-year-old man was shot dead in Rasnayakepura, Nikaweratiya early yesterday morning. The deceased, a father of two who ran a shop, had left home around 5:45 am to open his business. Family members discovered him dead with gunshot wounds inside the shop. In addition, a 32-year-old man was found dead with gunshot wounds in Tangalle on Wednesday night. His body was discovered in a coconut plantation. Police suspect that the shootings in Tangalle and Nikaweratiya were due to personal disputes. However, no suspects were arrested over the four shootings.