Police arrest 8 suspects on Eastern Chief Secretary’s assassination

The Trincomalee Police have arrested eight people, suspected to be in connection with the assassination of Mr. Herath Abeyweera, the Eastern Province Chief Secretary.

Mr. Abeyweera, 59, was shot dead just in front of his office in Trincomalee inner habour road, on Monday (16).

He has been shot five times with a pistol with in the range of two to ten meters, Police investigations have revealed. The latest information is that the assassin had entered in to the office of the Chief Secretary carrying a pistol covered in a file. 

Police search operations are underway to arrest more suspects in relation with the assassination of this senior public servant. Two police teams from the Trincomalee police were deployed to investigate the incident.

The Chief Secretary of the Eastern Province was the top most bureaucrat of the civil administration in the province and the brutal act of killing him was clearly intended to paralyze the administration.

Mr Herath Abeyweera, a resident of Kandy, was a senior member of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service. HE has served more than 35 years and was renowned as a courageous and efficient officer who had given leadership and guidance to all the development activities of the province.

Earlier he served as the District Secretary of Ampara for 15 years. He was a popular officer who had worked for long period in the province with utmost dedication and commitment and confidently served every person impartially. He received the fullest cooperation from all political parties and groups in the democratic mainstream for his efforts to set normalcy in the province.

The government vehemently condemns the cowardly assassination of the Chief Secretary. President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his statement pointed out this as yet another act of savagery by the LTTE in its campaign of terror.