New Sri Lankan government orders reinvestigation of several high-profile cases
Colombo (PTI): Sri Lanka's new government has ordered the police to reinvestigate some high-profile cases, including the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks and the 2005 murder of a Tamil minority community journalist.
The ruling National People's Power, which won the presidential election last month, pledged to reinvestigate past cases which had not been resolved.
The Ministry of Public Security took action to identify any lapses in investigations.
“The ministry has asked the acting police chief that these cases should be reinvestigated," Police spokesman Nihal Thalduwa said on Saturday.
The cases to be reinvestigated include the alleged scam in the issue of Central Bank bonds in 2015 blamed on the then government of Ranil Wickremesinghe, the former president, and the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks that killed over 270 people, including 11 Indians.
The catholic church has been demanding stringent action on what they alleged was a politically motivated cover-up by previous governments on the attacks.
Among the other cases that are to be investigated are the 2005 murder of Tamil minority community Journalist D Sivaram and the 2006 abduction and disappearance of a Tamil minority academic who headed the Eastern University at the time.
The 2011 disappearance of two political party activists in the northern capital of Jaffna is also on the list.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
