A person has been shot dead in front of the Mahara Magistrate’s Court, a short while ago.
The shooting had reportedly been carried out by a group of individuals in a Hybrid car who had fled the scene immediately afterwards.
They had targeted a group of suspects being brought to the court.
The body of the victim has been placed at the Ragama Hospital while Mahara Police is conducting an investigation.
The deceased has been identified as Suresh Asanga Silva, 35, a resident of Ratmalana, who had arrived at the court to appear with regard to a heroin case.
The director of the police media division Priyantha Jayakody said that an extensive investigations has been launched in order to car used by the suspects who carried out the shooting.
The casings of a T56 bullet and a 9mm bullet have been discovered by Kadawatha Police at the scene of the shooting, he told Ada Derana.
Meanwhile prisons spokesman Thushara Upuldeniya said that none of the inmates who were brought to the Mahara Magistrate’s Court for ongoing cases today were hurt as a result of the shooting.
Police suspect a personal dispute at the cause for the shooting.
