A Sri Lankan opposition politician was shot dead inside his office in Weligama on Wednesday morning, marking the first assassination of a high-profile politician since Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government came to power last year.
Lasantha Wickramasekara, 38, chairman of the Weligama Pradeshiya Sabha and a member of the opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), was meeting constituents in his office when two unidentified gunmen entered the premises and opened fire at close range.
According to police, the attackers arrived on a motorcycle and claimed they had come to get a letter signed by the chairman before entering the office and firing several rounds with a pistol. Wickramasekara was struck multiple times.
He was rushed to Matara General Hospital with critical injuries but was pronounced dead shortly after admission. No one else was injured in the shooting.
Police said the gunmen fled the scene immediately after the attack, and a search operation is underway to identify and arrest the suspects. “An investigation is underway to track down the killers,” police said in a statement, adding that the motive for the attack remains unclear.
Wickramasekara, widely known by his nickname ‘Midigama Lasa,’ was an influential local politician and one of the most prominent SJB figures in the southern province. His killing comes amid a surge in violent crime across Sri Lanka this year, much of it linked to drug networks and organised criminal groups.
Earlier this year, Dissanayake himself admitted that "Sri Lanka is a criminal state," echoing the concerns of numerous human rights organisations regarding extrajudicial killings and systemic abuses perpetrated by state forces.
Official figures indicate that more than 100 shootings have been reported nationwide since January, leaving at least 50 people dead.
Police sources in Matara confirmed that forensic officers have recovered several bullet casings from the scene, and CCTV footage from the Pradeshiya Sabha building is being examined.
The motive behind the assassination remains uncertain, though local media have reported that Wickramasekara had recently been involved in political disputes over control of the Weligama council.