A man was shot dead on Kandawala Road in Ratmalana on Saturday afternoon, police said.
The victim, a 58-year-old three-wheeler driver, was taken to the Colombo South Teaching Hospital in Kalubowila, where he died of his injuries. Ada Derana reported that he was pronounced dead on admission.
Two separate police teams have been assigned to the investigation. Police Spokesperson Assistant Superintendent of Police F. U. Wootler said the man was allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
No arrests had been reported by Sunday morning.
Conflicting accounts of the attack
The outlets that reported the shooting differ on how it was carried out. The Daily Mirror said two unidentified gunmen arrived on a motorcycle and opened fire on a man seated inside a three-wheeler before fleeing the scene. Ada Derana said the victim was standing beside a three-wheeler near Kandawala Junction when he was shot by a single gunman wearing a helmet, who had arrived on a motorcycle with another person.
Both accounts agree that the attackers travelled by motorcycle and that the shooting took place in daylight at the same location.
A recurring method
The attack follows a pattern police have repeatedly described in recent months: assailants riding pillion on a motorcycle, firing on a stationary or slow-moving target, and leaving on the same vehicle. The same method was used in the Kuppiyawatta shooting in Dematagoda in July, where CCTV captured two attackers on a motorcycle opening fire on a man and pursuing him on foot.
Police Media Division figures released in late July recorded 21 shooting incidents nationwide so far this year, leaving 14 people dead and 12 injured. Police have attributed most of them to rivalries between organised crime groups.
Saturday’s shooting is the second reported in as many days, after a fishing boat skipper was wounded near Mirissa Junction on Friday. Ratmalana lies within the same southern Colombo belt as Mount Lavinia and Dehiwala, where several armed attacks have been reported since June.
Investigations are continuing.
