Police have arrested four suspects, including the man identified as the shooter, over two shootings in the Habarakada area, Hiru News reported.
The shootings took place on the Athurugiriya–Godagama road and Malawiyakanda road on 17 August and 8 September. Two people were injured and hospitalised.
The suspects
The four are aged 21, 24, 41 and 45, and are residents of Padukka, Bandaragama, Meronthuduwa and Alubomulla — four separate towns spread across the Colombo and Kalutara districts, none of them Habarakada itself. The spread suggests a group assembled from outside the area rather than a local dispute.
Police recovered a live hand grenade from the suspect who acted as the shooter. That suspect was already wanted on a warrant in a case pending before the Horana Magistrate’s Court.
The grenade is the detail that matters
A firearm used in a shooting is expected. A live hand grenade in the possession of the same suspect is not — it indicates access to military-grade ordnance rather than an illegally held pistol.
That places the arrests alongside a pattern this desk has tracked since the summer: four grenade attacks in 45 days linked to organised criminal activity. Police have not stated any connection between these arrests and that series, and none is asserted here.
The two shootings were three weeks apart on roads about two kilometres from each other, and police treat them as one investigation — which implies a continuing target rather than two isolated incidents.
Not reported
Hiru’s filing is brief. It does not name the suspects, say when or where the arrests were made, or identify which of the four is the shooter beyond his role. It does not say whether the firearm used in either shooting was recovered, what the motive is believed to be, or who the two injured people are and whether they were the intended targets.
Also unstated: what charge the outstanding Horana warrant relates to, how long it had been outstanding, whether the four have been produced in court, and whether police are seeking further suspects.
