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Sri Lankan police officer reveals cover up of Lasantha murder

A former Sri Lankan police officer testified before a magistrate of how police in Colombo were instructed to destroy evidence relating to the murder of Sunday Leader editor, Lasantha Wickramatunga in 2009.

Senior Superintendent Hemantha Adhikari, who now works as a security guard at a private company, confessed before the Mount Lavinia magistrate, and revealed how he was reportedly instructed to destroy evidence gathered from the crime scene.

His confession, which came about as the former police officer reportedly “feared his own arrest”, comes in the wake of several senior officers being detained regarding the assassination.

Mr Adhikari blamed Senior DIG Prasanna Nanayakkara, who was arrested earlier this month, for ordering the destruction of evidence. The pieces that were destroyed allegedly include evidence found inside the vehicle that the journalist was travelling in as he was killed, as well as his personal notebook which contained the license plate numbers of motorcycles that had been following him.

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