Murdered Lankan editor's body exhumed after seven years

The Sri Lankan police today exhumed the body of a prominent newspaper editor Lasantha Wickremetunga who was killed in 2009, as part of a new investigation into his murder.

The body was exhumed in the presence of the Hultsdorf Magistrate at the Borella cemetery, reports the Colombo Page.

Mohammed Shahabdeen, the Mount Lavinia Magistrate on September 8th had granted approval to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of police to exhume Wickremetunga's remains following a request made by the CID that a new post-mortem examination is needed for further investigations.

Reports suggest that the Judicial Medical Officer Board had informed the court that there were 21 points that were suspicious in the previous post mortem examination.

Wickremetunga, the founding editor of English weekly, Sunday Leader, was assassinated on January 8, 2009 by four assailants opened fire at him in a suburb of Sri Lankan capital.

An Army Intelligence Officer was arrested and remanded in connection with the assassination of Wickrematunge.

Reports suggest that Wickrematunge was critical of the former Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

He had prior to his murder said that government would kill him, a claim sharply refused by the then Rajapaksa government.