One of two of Jaffna High Court judge Ilancheliyan’s police bodyguards has died in hospital, succumbing to bullet injuries sustained while protecting the judge from an attempt on his life in Nallur yesterday.
51-year-old Sgt. Hemaratne died shortly after midnight, despite the efforts of the Intensive Care Unit at Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
In an emotional tribute to his police escort of 17 years, Judge Ilanchelian wept and bowed down to Sgt. Hemaratne's family.
A bullet wound sustained in the stomach had caused blood leakage to his lungs, with the police sergeant dying of excessive blood loss.
Sgt. Hemaratne had served as Judge Ilanchelian’s police escort for 17 years.
The judge narrowly escaped unharmed from shots fired at his car in Nallur on Saturday night, although both his police bodyguards were injured from an ensuing shootout.
Judge Ilancheliyan told journalists that he believed the shooting to be a “threat to the judiciary” and linked to the cases he oversees.
