Colombo shooting: Ranatunga's security guard's remand extended

The Ministerial Security Division (MSD) officer of former Sri Lankan Minister of Petroleum Resources Development Arjuna Ranatunga, has been further remanded on orders of the Colombo Chief Magistrate on Monday after he was identified by two witnesses as the perpetrator behind a mob shooting at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) that left one dead.

On October 28, Ranatunga's security guard allegedly fired five live bullets at the crowd that had blocked the former Sri Lankan Minister's way when he arrived at CPC for a meeting. Two people got injured in the shooting while one of them succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

While Ranatunga was arrested a day after the incident his security personnel was arrested on October 28 and remanded to judicial custody.

Colombo Page reported that the security personnel was scheduled to be identified by three witnesses at the hearing held on November 12, during which two of the witnesses identified the officer as the shooter.

The MSD officer has been sent to judicial remand till November 15, while the Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne has also ordered for the submission of the post-mortem report on the next hearing.