The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has informed the Batticaloa Magistrate’s Court regarding ongoing investigations into a series of killings in 2008 in the Eastern Province, in which five people were shot dead using T-56 firearms. Former State Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, also known as “Pillayan,” has been named among the suspects, police stated.

According to the CID, the report was submitted following extensive investigations into the incidents, which occurred in several locations within Batticaloa and Vavunathivu.

Police said the killings under investigation include the shooting of two individuals, including a former police officer, at a sports ground near Murugan Temple in Kallady on January 9, 2008. On May 22, 2008, two more individuals were shot dead on Main Street in the Kattankudy Police Division while in another incident on August 20, 2008, a man was killed in Kannangkuda within the Vavunathivu Police Division when armed assailants opened fire at night.

The CID named three suspects in connection with the incidents. Investigators said the first suspect had fled the country and is believed to be living abroad.

The remaining two suspects were previously arrested and detained under CID detention orders issued on August 13 and November 13, 2025.

They were produced before the Batticaloa Magistrate’s Court today and were subsequently remanded.

According to the CID, the third suspect identified in all five killings is Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, who is currently held at the Welikada Prison in connection with a separate case involving the killing of a former Vice Chancellor of Eastern University.

Meanwhile, the Magistrate has directed prison authorities to produce Pillayan before the Batticaloa Magistrate’s Court on a future date when the case is called again.

The CID noted that further investigations into the killings are continuing.