While suspended IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon remains at large more than a week after a court order for his arrest over the W15 hotel shooting in Weligama, it is equally concerning that the other seven suspects in the case have also evaded capture. The CID has so far failed to arrest and produce them before the court.

In addition to Tennakoon, Matara Magistrate Aruna Indrajith Buddhadasa ordered the arrest of SI Maduranga, IP M.R. Dunusinghe, SSP Aneslem de Silva, IP Jagath Nishantha, Sergeant Kumara, Constable Priyanath, and Constable (driver) Dulip Gihan Piyatissa. These officers, attached to the Colombo Crime Division (CCD), were involved in the shooting near the W15 hotel on 31 December 2023—an incident the magistrate likened to a paramilitary operation.

Despite the court’s directive to arrest and present them before the judiciary, all suspects remain at large, while the police remain silent on the matter.

The CCD team, dressed in civilian clothing and traveling in a white van, claimed they had spotted a suspicious individual loitering near a hotel—the same location where another CCD team had arrested a key suspect the previous day (30 December 2023). Stopping their vehicle nearby, the officers attempted to search the individual, but he fled.

According to the CCD, as the officers gave chase, they came under fire, prompting them to return fire. During the exchange of gunfire, a mobile patrol unit from the Weligama Police arrived at the scene. Seeing a group of individuals in civilian clothing firing from a white van outside a hotel, the Weligama officers mistook them for an organised gang. Believing the situation to be a criminal attack, the sergeant in charge ordered his team to open fire on the van.

However, the magistrate noted contradictions in the CCD’s statement and suggested that their account might be inaccurate.