A 41-year-old man has been murdered and his body placed inside a vehicle which had then been set on fire in the Uppuveli area, according to police.
Preliminary police investigations have uncovered that the murder has taken place in the early hours of yesterday (14) over a personal dispute.
The deceased, a resident of the Alaswatta area in Trincomalee, owns and operates a shop in the same locality, the police said.
On the day of the incident, he was inside his store with two others when the assailants had arrived on a motorcycle. They had assaulted the victim, abducted him using his own double cab, and later murdered him, according police.
His body had been taken to a wooded area in Morawewa and placed inside the same vehicle which was then set ablaze by the suspects.
Police have identified three suspects involved in the incident, while one of them, a 24-year-old resident of Kuchchaveli, has been arrested.
A club suspected to have been used in the murder has been recovered, and Uppuveli Police are conducting further investigations into the incident.
