Front Page

Front Page

Organised crime in Mount Lavinia
Another Long Ranger informant killed
By Chris Kamalendran
The Army informant gunned down by suspected LTTE cadres on the outskirts of Colombo while accompanying his 10 year old son had lived under threat with the last of them coming on the same day he was killed.

Kathiragamanathan Ragupathy, a former member of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), a father of two, was actively involved with the Army in Batticaloa and after arriving in Colombo had continued to maintain links with the Army.

PLOTE sources told The Sunday Times that he was also providing information to the Army's 'Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols' unit which was involved in penetrating LTTE controlled areas and carrying out attacks on selected targets.

The unit which based itself at Athurugiriya was responsible for carrying out a series of attacks in the Wanni and the Eastern provinces with some senior LTTE cadres being killed in the process.

Inspector General of Police T. E.Anandaraja said it is believed that Ragupathy was killed because he was an Army informant. However, until yesterday no arrests had been made while the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has taken over the investigations. According to family members, on the morning of the incident, a motor cycle with two men on it had been seen parked close to his house at Peiris Mawatha, Mt. Lavinia. Soon after, Ragupathy had requested for additional security sensing that his life was under threat.

However the threats to him were not new as on previous occasions as well there has been threats to his life. Later in the day he had dropped his 10 year old son at the tuition class at Peterson Lane in Wellawatte, and thereafter called over to collect his son around 6.00 p.m.

'After my father picked me up from the tuition class we travelled by bus. Soon after we got off my father brought some string hoppers from a van which was parked on the side of the road. We started proceeding towards our house when I suddenly heard a noise.

The next moment I saw my father fallen on the ground and when I looked behind I saw two men on a motorcycle leaving', the son told The Sunday Times. CID sources said that at least four Army informants have been killed since the ceasefire came into effect.

Back to Front Page