Sri Lankan gangster Maddumage Lasantha Chandana Perera alias Angoda Lokka, who died while hiding in Coimbatore in July 2020, planned to get a passport using forged documents to leave India, the investigation by the Crime Branch CID (CB-CID) has found.
The CB-CID suspects that Lokka, who lived in Coimbatore as Pradeep Singh, wanted to leave for Dubai. His close aide Chanuka Thananayaka, whom the CB-CID arrested from Bengaluru on November 13, also planned to leave India, said sources privy to the investigation.
However, the CB-CID is yet to confirm whether Lokka engaged in illegal activities while hiding along with Sri Lankan woman Amani Thanji near Cheran Ma Nagar in Coimbatore, until his death on July 3, 2020.
The investigators are checking whether Lokka and Thananayaka were into drug trade while hiding in India as they were part of a drug syndicate in the island nation.
“Both Lokka and Thananayaka were arrested in 2017 for illegal stay in India. They are believed to have reached India through illegal ferry. The two remained at large after getting bail. They did not want to return to Sri Lanka fearing arrest and threats from a rival gang. Their plan was to leave India by sourcing passports using forged documents,” an officer said.
According to the officer, the CB-CID recovered forged documents, including Aadhaar card, from Thananayaka when he was apprehended from Bengaluru. Likewise, Lokka possessed an Aadhaar card in the name of Pradeep Singh and underwent a plastic surgery for his nose.
The CB-CID will send the mobile phone recovered from Thananayaka for cyber forensic examination to unearth more details.
The officer said that the CB-CID’s focus was on investigating the illegal stay, forging of documents and suspected possession of weapons by Lokka and his associates. The CB-CID in September last year had ruled out suspected foul play in his death, concluding that he had died of cardiac arrest as claimed by Amani Thanji. Lokka's identity was also confirmed as his DNA profile matched with that of his mother which was sourced from Sri Lanka through diplomatic channels.
Along with Thananayaka, the CB-CID team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police P. Sivakumar had arrested T. Gopalakrishnan (46) alias Jayapal, a resident of PNS Layout at Subbannapalya in Bengaluru for sheltering the foreigner.
M. Sanjeevi Baskar, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Coimbatore, on Tuesday granted the CB-CID five days custody of Thananayaka and Gopalakrishnan for further investigation.
