Police probing if anti-drug sentiments led to Councillor's killing

28 May 2018 10:33 pm

The police today said they were probing to establish whether test cricketer Dhananjaya de Silva's father Dehiwala-Mt. Lavinia Municipal Councillor Ranjan de Silva’s killing was linked to the Councillor's opposition to drug smuggling.

Ranjan de Silva was gunned down by three men armed with T-56 weapons outside his residence in Ratmalana on Thursday night.

A senior police officer investigating the incident today said that several police teams were conducting investigations into the shooting.

He said the Councillor was targeted by either drug smugglers or underworld gangsters as he was reported to have revealed the identity of drug smugglers and spoken against them.

The investigating officers said they believed they could be able to identify the shooters and the cause within a few days as a comprehensive investigation had been launched into the incident. (Darshana Sanjeewa)