As we mark 15 years since the murder of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickramatunge, we look back on the murder of two Tamil youths who were killed as part of a cover-up by the Sri Lankan security forces.
In the aftermath of Wickramatunge’s murder, details of the killing began to slowly become revealed over the years as international pressure over the assassination mounted.
Reports eventually revealed that days before the assassination, two motorcycles used in the killing were stolen from their Tamil owners in Vavuniya in an attempt to blame the killing on the LTTE.
The two Tamil youths who owned the motorcycles were named as Balraj Ram Prakash and Kumarasingham Vishnukumar.
They had reportedly been stopped by Sri Lankan security forces in Vavuniya whilst travelling to Chettikulam, before being blindfolded and abducted. An autopsy revealed they had been shot in the back of their heads, whilst their hands were tied. Their charred bodies were later found in the Anuradhapura area. The motorcycle was later found dumped in a marsh in Attidiya.
No one has ever been held responsible for the killing of Wickrematunge, or of Prakash and Vishnukumar.
See more from Human Rights Watch here, the Center for Policy Alternatives here, the Daily Mirror here and the Colombo Telegraph here.
