Suicide bomb blast at Kollupitiya Police Station in 2004 Suspended imprisonment on accused converted to death penalty

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda   

The Court of Appeal yesterday converted the sentence on a female accomplice of the LTTE woman suicide bomber who committed suicide at the Kollupitiya Police station in 2004, from two years suspended imprisonment to death sentence.  

Accordingly, Court of Appeal ordered the Colombo High Court to issue an arrest warrant for the arrest of the accused Selvakumar Sathyaleela alias Sathya for the proper implementation of this judgment and the sentence.  

Court of Appeal two-judge-bench comprising Justices Sampath Abayakoon and P. Kumararatnam delivered this judgment pursuant to an appeal filed by the Attorney General alleging that the High Court Judge was misdirected when the accused was acquitted from several offences including aiding and abetting suicide bomber Jayarani to commit the murder of Police Inspector Ekanayaka at Kollupitiya, Police Sergeant Artigala, one Boniface Liyanage and Kasthuri Badal.

The accused was further charged for conspiring with the common purpose of assassinating Minister Devananda, although the said task failed.

After trial, the High Court Judge of Colombo found the accused guilty for the second count preferred against her and she was acquitted of the other charges. Accordingly, she was sentenced for a period of 24 months rigorous imprisonment suspended for 15 years.  

The Attorney General had filed an appeal on the basis that the High Court Judge was misdirected when the respondent was acquitted five counts preferred against her, and the sentence imposed on the accused for the count where she was found guilty was wholly inadequate given the seriousness of the crime for which she was found guilty.  
In this case, on 7th July 2004, the accused had accompanied Thaygaraja Jayarani to the Colombo office of the EPDP, whose leader was Douglas Devananda, a government minister at that time. Both the accused and Jayarani had gained access to the office on the pretext of meeting the minister.  

As for the security procedures of the office, when security personnel attempted to body check Jayarani, she had refused to be searched citing shyness of such a check.  
Because of the suspicion which arose due to this, the said Jayarani had been handed over to police for further investigations and taken to the Kollupitiya police station. At the police station, she had detonated the suicide bomb which she was wearing which killed herself, and four persons.

• The accused was further charged for conspiring with the common purpose of assassinating Minister Devananda, although the said task failed