Suspect Wanted in Connection with the Thalangama Double Murder on 13.02.2026, for Whom Public Assistance Was Sought, Arrested

Based on information received regarding three suspicious individuals in an abandoned house in the Tangwatta area of Monaragala, officers of the Monaragala Police Headquarters conducted a raid on the night of 24 February 2026. The three suspects were apprehended and interrogated, during which it was revealed that one of them was the second gunman involved in the fatal shooting of a lawyer and his wife in the Akuregoda area on 13 February 2026.

Investigators had noted that the description of the second shooter, previously circulated by the media for public assistance, closely matched that of one of the arrested suspects. Officers from the Western Province Southern District Crime Division, which is leading the investigation, traveled to the Monaragala Police Station, formally took the three suspects into custody, and transferred them to the division. The suspects are currently being held for 72 hours under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, while further investigations are ongoing.

Among the three, a 39-year-old resident of Diddeniya has been identified during questioning related to a forged passport created using his likeness as the suspected gunman in the Akuregoda double murder. Accordingly, the investigation is now focusing on the two other alleged shooters who committed the crime alongside the individual arrested previously in the Ambalangoda Police Division on 21 February 2026, as well as the two suspects apprehended in Monaragala for aiding and abetting the crime. All individuals remain in custody for further inquiries.