Lalith Ambanwela acid case:

Ten to 70 years’ RI for all accused

Samanthi Weerasekera

All seven accused in the Lalith Ambanwela acid throwing case were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment ranging from 30 to 70 years by Kandy Provincial High Court Judge Preethi Padman Surasena yesterday.

The third and fourth accused were sentenced to 70 years’ rigorous imprisonment each while the first and second accused were sentenced to 10 years’ RI and the fifth, sixth and seventh accused were sentenced to 30 years’ RI.

In addition, the third and fourth accused were ordered to pay a fine of Rs 800,000 each and imposed a further sentence of eight years imprisonment in default of the fine.

The High Court Judge also ordered the third accused to pay Rs 5 million as compensation to the victim. The fifth, sixth and seventh accused were also ordered to pay a fine of Rs 400,000 each and sentenced to an additional four years’ rigorous imprisonment in default of the fine.

The first and the second accused were also ordered to pay a fine of Rs 200,000 each and in default a further two years’ RI was imposed on them. The accused in this case were Don Ananda Munasinghe, a former chief accountant, Weerasinghe Wasala Mudiyanselage Ananda Weerasinghe, a former deputy director of the Central Province Education Department, Mohamed Razik Mohamed Rihan, Hussein Seiyadu Mohamed Shafi, Omar Lebbe Marikkar Mohamed Nilfer, M J M R I Rahuman and M H M Imthiaz. The High Court judge in his order said all charges against the third accused Mohamed Rihan had been proved according to the evidence led in court and that he had been directly involved in the acid attack on Ambanwela.