Beliatta mass shooting: Vehicle used by assailants found in Galle
January 24, 2024 09:19 am
The SUV believed to have been used by the assailants complicit in the Beliatta mass shooting incident that killed five individuals has been located.
It was found parked near the Vidyaloka Pirivena in Galle.
On Monday (Jan.22), a group of persons who had arrived in an SUV had opened fire at a Defender near the Beliatta Interchange of the Southern Expressway.
In the shooting, which took place between 8:30 a.m. and 8:40 a.m., four persons were killed at the scene. The other person who was inside the Defender was rushed to the Tangalle Hospital with critical gunshot wounds, however, he had succumbed to injuries shortly after.
Among the deceased was the leader of ‘Ape Jana Bala Pakshaya’ (Our Power of People Party or OPPP) Saman Perera. The other four victims were identified as Sameera Madhusanka, Hasitha Chinsuka, Buddhika Rajapaksha, and Nalin Champika.
Meanwhile, a man, purportedly one of the gunmen inside the SUV, has been captured by a surveillance camera near the Kamburupitiya roundabout. However, his identity has yet to be established.
