Mattakkuliya Army Camp commanding officer arrested over alleged murder

A Lt. Colonel, the Commanding Officer of the Mattakkuliya Army Camp has been arrested by the police in connection with the murder of an individual in the Mattakkuliya area, the Army said.

Army Spokesman Brig. Nilantha Premaratna said the police has requested the military police to hand over the suspect who is a senior military officer to the police for questioning.

As such, the suspect was arrested by the Colombo North Divisional Crime Investigation Unit after the Army had handed him over to the police yesterday afternoon.

The police began the probe after the victim (36) who was the husband of a Grama Niladhari in Mattakkuliya, was murdered.

The police had earlier arrested the wife of the victim and 13 soldiers serving at the Mattakkuliya Army camp in connection with the murder.

Earlier, the Army Commander on hearing of the incident instructed the relevant military officials to take strict disciplinary action immediately against any military man if found guilty to fall in line with the establishment's zero-tolerance policy against criminal acts. (Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya)