Police have arrested a person on suspicion over an incident where 54-year-old restaurant owner Thushara Sampath, was shot dead near his business place at Nagoda, on 09 October. The arrest was made at Navaladi, in the Batticaloa area. Police commandos arrested him while he was travelling in a bus bound for Batticaloa.
The suspected gunman was produced before the Valaichenai Magistrate court and police obtained a detention order for five days.
The wife of the businessman, who received gunshot injuries, succumbed to her injuries yesterday (11) while receiving treatment at the Nagoda hospital. She was 52.
The two victims were shot around 7.40 a.m., on 9 Oct. Two unidentified persons arrived on a motorcycle and one of them opened fire with a T-56 assault rifle before fleeing the scene.
Sources said that the businessman had been in contact with a person identified as Bombuwala Naveen widely believed to be a narcotics dealer. Sources said he had lost an eye a few years ago as a result of an acid attack.
Meanwhile, police said that two close associates of Bombuwala Naveen had been arrested in connection with the ongoing investigation.