A police officer assigned to security duty at the Rajagiriya temple of Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera has been found dead of a gunshot wound, in what police are treating as a suspected suicide.
The constable, aged 36, is believed to have shot himself with his service firearm, Ada Derana reported. Hiru News identified the location as the Sri Saddharmarajika Temple in Rajagiriya.
Ada Derana and Daily Mirror both reported that the officer had been suffering from an illness for several days before Thursday’s incident. Daily Mirror said police have opened an investigation into the death, and Hiru News reported that further inquiries are under way.
None of the three newsrooms named the officer or gave the time of the incident.
Background
Gnanasara Thera is the founding general secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena, a Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist organisation that has been at the centre of multiple legal proceedings. He was granted bail in April after being indicted before the Colombo High Court over remarks authorities said were insulting to Islam, and in June filed a CID complaint over what he described as defamatory social media attacks. Police have maintained a security detail at his temple through that period.
Nothing in Thursday’s reporting linked the officer’s death to the monk or to the security assignment itself.
