Eight suspects arrested in EP Chief Secretary’s killing

Rafik Jalaldeen

TRINCOMALEE: Eight suspects were arrested and quizzed yesterday in Trincomalee in connection with the assassination of Eastern Province Chief Secretary Herath Abeyweera on Monday, police said.

Abeyweera, 59, a resident of Kandy was shot dead on Monday evening at his office in Trincomalee by an unidentified gunman.

“His bullet ridden body was found on the floor of his office. He has been shot five times with a pistol. We believe that the assassin had targeted the victim from two-10 metres range,” Trincomalee police said.

According to Trincomalee police, it has been revealed that an unidentified person had come with a file and entered the Chief Secretary’s office.

“We suspect that the assassin might have brought the pistol concealed inside the file,” the police added.

The Trincomalee police had launched a search operation to track down more suspects.

Two police teams from the Trincomalee police were deployed to investigate the incident.

Abeyweera was the top civilian Government official in the East, which is now administered separately following a Supreme Court verdict on the de-merger of the North-East.

Abeyweera earlier served for more than 15 years as the District Secretary, Ampara. He has held several other positions in the Government service in a career spanning 35 years. He took up the position of Eastern Chief Secretary upon retirement from the public service.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Government condemned the assassination, saying it is “yet another act of savagery by the LTTE in its campaign of terror”.