{"id":42404,"date":"2015-07-31T18:01:38","date_gmt":"2015-07-31T22:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=42404"},"modified":"2015-07-31T18:01:38","modified_gmt":"2015-07-31T22:01:38","slug":"one-dead-and-13-injured-as-masked-armed-gang-fires-at-group-canvassing-for-unp-at-bloemendhal-road-in-colombo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=42404","title":{"rendered":"One Dead and 13 Injured as Masked Armed Gang Fires at Group Canvassing for UNP at Bloemendhal Road in Colombo."},"content":{"rendered":"

BY Cassendra Doole<\/strong><\/p>\n

An armed gang opened fire at a group of United National Party supporters who were canvassing for the election at Bloemendhal Road, Kotahena in Colombo killing one and injuring 13 others yesterday ( July 31) afternoon.<\/p>\n

One person has been confirmed dead while at least 13 persons were hospitalized with injuries when an unidentified group of armed men opened fire at the crowds.<\/p>\n

Unconfirmed reports say that an underworld gang had attacked members of a rival underworld gang who were also attending the election canvassing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Speaking to Ceylon Today,Dr. Anil Jayasinghe of the Colombo National Hospital said, of the 13 individuals who were admitted to the hospital two people were subjected to surgery and one person was receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit.<\/p>\n

The victim who was a mother of three children aged 6, 14 and 16 was pronounced dead on admission to the hospital.<\/p>\n

Her husband, speaking to the media said, he will do everything in his power to bring justice to the mother of his children.<\/p>\n

“Whoever did this should be punished. There is no one to take care of my children and they have lost their mother. No one can bring her back now, but justice should be served and they must be punished for this,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Police Media Unit told Ceylon Today that the shooting occurred near St. Benedict’s Grounds in Kotahena when a group of men arrived in two cars and shot at the supporters.<\/p>\n

One of the victims named Mohammed told Ceylon Today that the group arrived in two black Hybrid vehicles.
\n“We were campaigning when two dark coloured hybrids stopped near us and sprayed bullets everywhere. I saw about six masked men shooting and everyone was running around trying to avoid the bullets and then I got hurt too,” he said.<\/p>\n

One of Ravi Karunanayake’s supporters who witnessed the scene from afar said, they heard the gun shots and immediately removed the Minister to safety.<\/p>\n

State Minister Rosy Senanayake and Deputy Minister Harsha de Silva who arrived at the Colombo National Hospital immediately after the shooting incident said that they vehemently condemn this attack and the perpetrators will be brought to justice immediately. They further added that murdering the innocent for power is a dastardly act in itself.<\/p>\n

Eye witnesses stated that the group immediately fled the scene in the melee before they could be identified. Meanwhile, the Kotahena Police are conducting investigations into this incident.<\/p>\n

According to the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) 500 individuals were present during the attack and around 16 bullet casings were also found at the location.<\/p>\n

“At 11.30 a.m., a shooting was reported at Bloemendhal Road opposite St. Benedict’s College grounds in Kotahena. Rajiv Seneviratne the Campaign Manager for the United National Party speaking to CMEV from Siri Kotha confirmed that 500 individuals were present when the incident took place.”<\/p>\n

“The victim has been identified as S. Maheema of Madampitiya, Colombo 15, and an UNP supporter.
\nThe attack lasted for 10 minutes. The perpetrators were reported to be clad in black and had arrived in 2 black hybrid cars without number plates.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, 16 bullet casings have been found at the location, according police sources,” said the CMEV.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:Ceylon Today<\/em><\/p>\n

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BY Cassendra Doole An armed gang opened fire at a group of United National Party supporters who were canvassing for the election at Bloemendhal Road, Kotahena in Colombo killing one and injuring 13 others yesterday ( July 31) afternoon. One person has been confirmed dead while at least 13 persons were hospitalized with injuries when …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘One Dead and 13 Injured as Masked Armed Gang Fires at Group Canvassing for UNP at Bloemendhal Road in Colombo.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42404"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42404"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42405,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42404\/revisions\/42405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}