Pillayan further remanded over Tamil MP’s murder

The Batticaloa Magistrate’s Court yesterday extended the remand of the former Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, who was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police over the killing of a Tamil parliamentarian.

Acting Judge of the Batticaloa Magistrate’s Court MAM Rizvi remanded the former Chief Minister and three other suspects until 28th April when the case was taken up for hearing today.

The CID arrested Pillayan on October 11, 2015 when he arrived at the CID office in Colombo to give a statement over the killing of former Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham. He has been in remand custody since then.

The other three suspects are former TMVP national coordinator and Eastern provincial councilor Edwin Silwa Krishnanantharaja, K. Kanaganayagam and Army intelligence officer M. Kaleel.

Pararajasingham was killed by unidentified gunmen when he was attending a Christmas midnight mass at St Mary’s church in Batticaloa on December 25, 2005.