A suspect was taken into custody by the Pansiyagama Police in connection with the death of Ven. Udugama Padmawansa Thera of the Na Uyana Forest Monastery who fell victim to a trap gun at the Keerawella Hinna Forest Reserve on June 13.
The suspect was produced before Maho Magistrate Ravindra Ranjan Bandara and was remanded till June 23.
Police said that the suspect hunter who had laid the trap gun was a resident of Angulgamuwa in the Pansiyagama Police area. The 52-year-old suspect is said to be an illicit liquor distiller as well.
Severe injury had been caused to the legs of the 31-year-old monk. The postmortem examination was conducted by Kurunegala Teaching Hospital Chief Judicial Medical Officer Dr. Ajith Jayasena who decided that death was caused by shock and haemorrhage.
It was decided at the inquest that the shock and haemorrhage was caused by the explosion of the trap gun and the death was a murder.
The cremation was held at the Na Uyana Forest hermitage on June 14.
Police said that the deceased monk had been due to travel to Thailand for the propagation of Buddhism. The Thera as a layman had graduated from the Colombo Aesthetic University and had entered the Buddha Sasana in 2019.
Pansiyagama OIC Nishantha Wedage said that action would be taken against the suspect for murder.
The Ven. Thera was from Udugama, Paththampitiya in Rambukkana. He schooled at Ashoka Maha Vidyalaya in Rambukkana.
“He was a traditional Ves Dancer and had attended many events overseas as well,” said his dance teacher Upali Wijewickrama in Paththampitiya. “However as a youth he tended towards spiritual life, influenced by the monks who taught Buddhism at his school. Later he was ordained at a temple in Weniwella, Gabbala, in Rambukkana, before he was directed to the Na Uyana Forest Monastery.”
by dailynews sri lanka
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