Suspects in attempted murder case of SLA commander remanded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2008, 16:06 GMT]
Colombo Fort Magistrate, Mr. Namal Bandara Balalle, Thursday ordered further remand till March 12, for the two suspects in the attempted murder of Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Sarath Fonseka, legal sources in Colombo said.

One of the two suspects is a Sinhalese Grama Niladhari, Hemapala Ariyaretna, who is alleged to have assisted the woman suicide bomber to obtain a national identity card in the name of a Muslim woman.

Other suspect is a Tamil person, Shanmugalingam Sooriyakumar, alleged to be a LTTE supporter, legal sources said.

Police told court when the suspects were produced that the report on the inquiry into the suicide bomb blast had been sent to the Attorney General for his consideration and for necessary action, legal sources said.

The suicide bomb blast targeting the SLA Commander Sarath Fonseka took place on 25 April 2006 near the SLA headquarters. Commander Sarath Fonseka escaped with serious injuries but 11 SLA soldiers and a teacher were killed. 25 SLA soldiers were also injured in the attack.