Bloody end to character in narco tragedy

Residents in the Laksetha housing complex in Applewatte bordering Maligawatte were rattled by what seemed a burst of fire crackers early Tuesday.

But those who rushed out saw armed policemen and a stairway became a crime-scene.

Soon it was known that notorious underworld operative Samarasinghe Aarachchige Madush Lakshitha, alias Makandure Madush, had been gunned down.

His name was first associated with the murder of former provincial council minister Danny Hiththetiya who was chairman of the Southern Development Authority in June 2006.

He was later suspected in a series of other robberies, murders, trafficking of drugs and underworld gang operations.

How Madush was shot to death in Maligawatte remains a mystery.

The police maintain that the killing happened during an operation planned to retrieve heroin hidden on the 10th floor of a Maligawatte flat.

Madush was in the custody of the Colombo Crimes Division when he had been brought to the location where he was reportedly fatally shot by two gunmen.

It was just a four days earlier that the custody of Madush was transferred from the CID to the CCD. A senior police officer claimed that the CCD wanted the suspect’s help to complete investigations regarding the murder of two underworld gang leaders ‘Samayan’ and ‘Kos malli.’

He said that Madush was needed to locate a cache of weapons and ammunition and a request was made to court.

The officer claimed that after Madush was transferred to CCD custody, 10 kilos of heroin was recovered from a garage in Kotikawatta and a similar operation had been planned to recover more narcotics.

He said that accordingly, Madush had been given a phone to contact his associates who had reportedly been told to place the drugs in the Maligawatte flat.

According to the officer, the police were on the way to recover 22 kilos of heroin in the 10th floor flat.

“Our officers were forced to take the staircase as the lift does not operate after 10 p.m. It was on the staircase of the second floor that two people confronted the group accompanying Madush. A T56 and pistol was used,’’ the officer claimed.

“We believe that Madhush was targeted as he was co-operating with the police,’’ he claimed.

He said a motorcycle, which had been left by the gang involved in the shooting, had been stolen a few days ago in Wellawatta.

However, how the gunmen escaped without detection remains a mystery.

Hours after Madush was killed, lawyer Chaminda Athokorala representing Madhush, wrote to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka raising concerns about the death of his client in police custody.

In his letter, he said that Madush was held under a detention order under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the detention was due to end on October 28, 2020 as such orders could be made only for 18 months.

He said the detention order should specify the place of detention and accordingly the place of detention was the CID. He said it was illegal to transfer him to the CCD on October 16.

Lawyer Athukorala said his client’s wife had written to the CCD director on Oct. 17 about the imminent threat to his life.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Kanchana Niranjani de Silva visited the scene where Madush was killed and a further magisterial inquiry is due.

Madush, who had fled the country after being wanted for several criminal incidents including murders and robberies was arrested on February 5, last year in Dubai. He was deported from Dubai on a request by Sri Lanka and taken into custody on May 5 last year on arrival at the Bandaranaike International Airport.

Additional reporting: Nimanthi Ranasinghe