5TH LEAD

Claymore attack in Kandy, senior counter-insurgency officer killed

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 August 2006, 01:10 GMT]
A senior commander of the Special Task Force (STF), the elite counter-insurgency arm of the Sri Lankan police, was mortally wounded Monday when his vehicle was ambushed by attackers with a claymore mine. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Upul Seneviratne was seriously wounded in the blast at Digana, 10 km southeast of Kandy, around 4:15 a.m. Monday. He succumbed to his wounds at Kandy hospital around 6:20 a.m., medical sources said. SSP Seneviratne had served in the eastern province, including as head of the STF in the region. On Sunday, another explosion was reported at Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Nihala Karunaratne's residence in Puttalam killing a police security official.

The driver of the SSP’s vehicle is seriously wounded in the attack.

STF’s top commander, Inspector General Nimal Lewke has blamed the Liberation Tigers for the claymore attack.

SSP Upul Seneviratne was serving as head of the police commando training school when he was attacked.

Digana, with the view of the "Victoria dam" built by the British is a tourist place in the Central Province of Sri Lanka with Victoria Golf Club and an international cricket ground.

On Sunday, a bomb exploded at the Puttalam residence of Sri Lankan Police DIG, responsible for NorthEast, Nihal Karunaratne, killing a policeman and wounding another, both responsible for the security of the DIG.

According to the police, the explosion at DIG's residence was accidental.