Person who shot dead constable during Kasippu raid sentenced to death after 18 year trial

By Upali Ananda 

Colombo, April 25 (Daily Mirror) - One of the four accused who stood indicted with the murder of a constable during a raid on an illicit brewery was found guilty and sentenced to death by Balapitiya High Court Judge Ruchira Weliwatta. 

The fourth accused in the case M.K. Prasad Manoranjana alias “Kalutara Chutte” was sentenced to death, and the first and the third accused were acquitted. The second accused had died during the trial pending in the High Court. 

A police constable of Baddegama Police K.H.Dilipa Kumarasinghe, had been shot dead by the accused during a raid on an illicit brewery at Hamigala on November 30, 2008. 

Delivering the death sentence, the High Court Judge held that the prosecution had substantiated the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, securing a conviction against the fourth accused, but not against the other two accused. 

State Counsel Senuri Gunatilaka prosecuted, while attorney-at-law Rohana Sampath Maddage appeared for the accused.