Police have arrested an individual believed to be the main suspect in the murder of a Buddhist monk, who was shot dead at a temple in the Malwathuhiripitiya area in January.
According to Police Spokesman SDIG Nihal Thalduwa, police suspect that the arrestee was the gunman who carried out the shooting.
The suspect was arrested in the Hambegama area in Moneragala, police reported.
In the early hours of January 23, a group of four assailants, who had arrived in a car, shot dead a Buddhist monk inside a temple in the Malwathuhiripitiya area of Gampaha.
The 45-year-old Buddhist monk, Ven. Kalapaluwawe Dhammarathana Thero, who sustained critical injuries in the incident, had been rushed to the Gampaha Hospital. But he later succumbed to injuries while receiving treatment.
Investigating officers have thus far arrested seven suspects allegedly complicit in the murder. The T-56 rifle supposedly used by the assailants and the remote switch of the car used in the shooting were recovered from the possession of the fourth suspect.
