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Tigers returning to the hills
Killer gang paid Rs. 700,000 to gun down Nuwara Eliya police intelligence officer
By Shelton Hettiarachchi, Nuwara Eliya Correspondent
Did the LTTE hire an underworld gang involved in hijacking vehicles and killing their drivers for the murder of Sergeant R. A. Dhanapala, a police officer gathering intelligence in Nuwara Eliya?

It is an underworld gangster allegedly on the LTTE payroll who is being hunted down for the killing of military intelligence officer Rizli Meedin in November last year.

Though the suspect, Ice Manju, is still at large, police investigating the Nuwara Eliya killing have struck an early breakthrough. They have arrested five suspects and recovered the pistol used in the murder. Police interrogations led to more details not only of the killing of Sgt. Dhanapala but also of a number of gruesome killings and robberies alleged to have been carried out by the gang.

Sgt. Dhanapala, a 45-year-old bachelor who was to retire from the service in four months, was gunned down near the St. Andrew’s Hotel adjoining the golf links on December 22. He was beaten up before being shot dead and his gold chain had been snatched.

Nuwara Eliya Police have recovered the chain from a pawn centre after eliciting information from the suspects in custody. Police believe the underworld gang members were picked by the LTTE one month before the killing, taken to Batticaloa and given training and instructions to carry out the Rs. 700,000 murder contract.

Since their return from Batticaloa, the suspects had been on the trail of Sgt. Dhanapala in Nuwara Eliya, which is not unknown for LTTE-related activities and violence in the past.

On November 10, 1984, in a series of incidents, the receiving station of state-run television Rupavahini was attacked while several transformers were blasted in Nuwara Eliya. On October 2, 1999, the LTTE damaged the railway line between Nanu Oya and Badulla.

In the 1990s, intelligence reports said the LTTE was active on the estates, brainwashing and recruiting Tamil youths. The killing of Sgt. Dhanapala and the possible LTTE connection have heightened tension in the area and underscored the need to protect intelligence officers while intensifying measures to ensure security in the region. But police officers say lack of facilities such as adequate vehicles and communications equipment have made their task difficult.

According to investigations, the gang had been involved in selling hijacked vehicles at giveaway prices in LTTE-controlled areas. In most cases, the driver of the hijacked vehicle was killed. In one case, the gang had hired a vehicle in Colombo on October 11 last year to go to Nuwara Eliya. At an isolated place, they killed the driver, identified as Shantha Richard Samarasekera, and fled with the vehicle.

On January 24, last year, the gang hijacked a van in Colombo after killing its driver S. J. Hettige. On July 31, the gang hijacked a van in Embilipitiya after killing the driver identified as Sunil Wijesekera. Another victim of the gang was van driver Sunil Prasanna when his vehicle was robbed between August 23 and 30 at Kandapola.

The death of Sgt. Dhanapala has plunged his village in Moneragala into shock and grief as he was actively involved in several welfare projects there.
Ven. Hulandawe Chandrasiri Thera of the Sri Sangabodhi yogashramaya at Hulandawa, Moneragala, said Sgt. Dhanapala was a popular person in the village and visited his house every month. “It was he who started the death donation society in the village and the welfare of the village was always in his mind,” he said.

Sgt. Dhanapala was killed a day after he last left his village on December 21. He told his niece, Renuka Priyanganie, he would return on January 18 and discuss with her plans of a house he intended to build.

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