Large crowd gathers to pay last respects to lawyer and wife killed in Akuregoda shooting

The bodies of the lawyer and his wife, who were shot dead in Thalangama, Akuregoda, have been placed at a private funeral parlour in Borella.

The incident occurred around 5:00 p.m. on February 13, 2026 at a car park of a supermarket near the military headquarters in Thalangama, Akuregoda, approximately one kilometre from the base.

Two unidentified gunmen, who arrived in a car, opened fire using a pistol and a T-56 type firearm before fleeing the scene.

The victims have been identified as 44-year-old attorney-at-law Buddhika Mallawarachchi and his 42-year-old wife W. A. Nisansala, police said.

The vehicle used by the assailants was later involved in an accident near Kottawa Pola Junction and was abandoned.

Police also recovered a fake number plate that had been attached to the vehicle.

In response, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Police Special Task Force officers (STF), and teams from the Central Crime Investigation Division (CCID) were deployed under the direction of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to track down the suspects.

Police believe that dashcam footage from vehicles traveling along these routes may have captured the car suspected to have been used by the suspects, a vehicle bearing registration number “EP KI-7738” and seek public assistance.

Subsequently, police received information that the vehicle believed to have been used by the gunmen had been abandoned along a road in the Baddegama area in Galle.

Police officers were dispatched to the scene and discovered the vehicle completely engulfed in flames.

The vehicle was found destroyed at a location about 1.5 kilometres from the Baddegama Interchange on the Southern Expressway, Ada Derana reporter said.

Further investigations into the incident are ongoing, police stated.