Vijitha Thero confesses to staging attack: Police

Monday, 23 June 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Moderate monk claims he cut himself in subsequent statement to police

The moderate monk and leader of the Jana Bala Sena Movement, Watareka Vijitha Thero, who was found bound and slashed on a roadside in Panadura on Thursday, had confessed that the attack had been self-inflicted, Police said yesterday. Addressing a media briefing SSP Ajith Rohana said the monk had made the confession subsequently during investigations by the Colombo Crimes Division.

“Legal action will be filed against the monk for making a false statement,” the Police Spokesman said. Police had concluded that the monk’s statement was filled with contradictions after studying his telephone records and CCTV footage, SSP Rohana told the news conference. The monk, in a previous statement to the police, said he had been abducted by an unknown group and assaulted. SSP Rohana told media personnel that the monk had confessed to inflicting his own wounds using blades. He said a relative had been asked to drop him off in a van at the site where he was found. Daily FT learns that Vijitha Thero’s nephew was arrested yesterday morning. (DB)