Police have arrested four suspects in connection with the live hand grenade found at a house on Leslie Ranagala Mawatha in Borella on Sunday, NewsFirst reported.
The four were taken into custody for aiding and abetting the placement of the device, according to the police account carried by the broadcaster. They were due to be produced before court on Monday.
Police also said the motorcycle used to transport the grenade and leave it at the location was found abandoned in the Kotikawatta area.
An account that sits between two earlier versions
The arrests follow Sunday’s attack on the house, which three newsrooms described in two different ways. Ada Derana and the Daily Mirror reported that a person arrived on a motorcycle and threw the grenade at the property before fleeing, citing CCTV footage from a nearby camera. Hiru News, attributing its account to the Police Media Division, reported instead that a live grenade had been found left in front of the house, and did not describe it as thrown.
Monday’s report uses the language of placement — the suspects are held over “aiding and abetting the placement” of the grenade — while confirming that a motorcycle was used to carry the device to the scene. The two elements are consistent with each other rather than in conflict.
Linked to an organised crime dispute
The targeted property is the home of a close associate of Kavishka Madushan Abeywickrama, the organised crime figure known as “Wanathe Chathu”, who was arrested in Dubai and faced deportation to Sri Lanka. Police have described the attack as arising from a dispute between organised criminal groups. The grenade did not detonate and no injuries were reported.
Ada Derana reported on Sunday that security authorities have flagged an emerging pattern of grenade attacks tied to such disputes. A comparable case in Ratmalana, where one device did explode, produced six arrests and then four more in early August.
NewsFirst did not give the names, ages or home districts of the four suspects. Its report also does not say whether the person who left the device at the house is among those held — the offence described, aiding and abetting, points to a supporting role. As of Monday evening, no other verified Sri Lankan newsroom had published its own report of the arrests.
