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Accidental shooting at former Army chief’s house?

A soldier guarding the residence at Kaduwela of former Army Commander Lt. General Lionel Balagalle has been arrested over the death of another Army guard at the house on Friday, police said yesterday.

The victim was identified as Sudath Hemantha (29) from Matara. He is the father of an 8-month old baby.

Investigators are trying to uncover whether the shot fired was accidental or deliberate, Nawagamuwa police inspector A.R. Pushpakumara told The Sunday Times.

The weapon has been recovered.

The suspect in custody told the police that his weapon had accidentally gone off when he was loading the 9mm Browning pistol and the bullet had hit his fellow bodyguard who was sleeping at that time.

The incident took place at 5 a.m. at Lt. Gen. Balagalle’s residence in Kotalawela, Kaduwela.

Lt. Gen. Balagalle who is at present attached to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation was also questioned by the police.

The soldier had succumbed to his injury while being rushed to the Nawagamuwa hospital. The bullet had damaged several internal organs in his body. The post-mortem was being conducted yesterday.

The magisterial inquiry is due to be conducted by Kaduwela Additional Magistrate Lakmal Wickremasuriya on Monday.

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