COLOMBO: A Sri Lankan opposition politician was fatally shot inside his office on Wednesday according to police confirmation.
Lasantha Wickramasekara, the 38-year-old council chairman of the coastal city Weligama, was meeting constituents when an armed assailant entered his office.
The gunman fired multiple rounds from a revolver before fleeing the scene without injuring anyone else.
Police have launched an investigation to locate the perpetrator while the motive remains undetermined.
Wickramasekara represented the opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party engaged in a bitter power struggle with the ruling party for Weligama council control.
Sri Lanka has experienced a significant increase in violent crimes throughout this year often linked to drug gangs and organised crime.
Official statistics indicate at least 50 fatalities resulting from more than 100 separate shooting incidents.
This assassination represents the first political killing since President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government took office last year promising to restore law and order.
The most audacious previous attack occurred in February when a gunman disguised as a lawyer murdered a suspect inside a Colombo courthouse. – AFP
