Sniper story ‘made-up’, says middleman who sent Lahiru to Maldives

The Sri Lankan man - identified only as “Yasas” – who claims to have acted as middleman in sending fellow Sri Lankan Lahiru Madhushanka to Maldives for a security job has reported to Sunday Times that Lahiru did not have a military background, and that the claim had been concocted between them so he could secure the job.

Lahiru Madhushanka is currently caught in the middle of a high profile case involving an alleged assassination plot targeting Maldivian President Abdulla Yameeen Abdul Gayoom.

He has been accused of being a sniper contracted by a group of Maldivians led by former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb, Is’haaq Hussain and Fazeel Hameed; and has been charged with conspiring to assassinate an individual.

Yasas, in the interview with Sri Lankan newspaper Sunday Times, said that he was approached by a group of Maldivians who he was in contact with about an immediate vacancy in Maldives with a salary of USD 1,000 to 2,000 per month.

Yasas said that the key member of the group – whose name the newspaper chose to withhold – had specifically requested for someone with a military background, saying that it could be a job as a VIP bodyguard.

He said that Lahiru had been his second choice, after he didn’t hear back from the first person he called about the officer.

Yasas said that Lahiru being a former sniper in the Sri Lankan military had been a fabricated tale concocted between them so he could get the job.

The group of Maldivians had not met Lahiru, but had requested a picture – which Yasas sent to them.

Lahiru had traveled to Maldives on October 22, 2015 and had been instructed to stay at Marble Hotel.

However, Lahiru chose to stay in another hotel after finding Marble Hotel too expensive.

Yasas said that the group of Maldivians and Lahiru never had any direct contact between them, only communicating through him.

According to him, the Maldivians made plans to meet with Lahiru multiple times, but never showed up.

Yasas said that the key member of the group of Maldivians then called him and told him that Lahiru would be arrested by Maldivian police imminently, and that they would both be paid handsomely if they cooperated.

Yasas said that he refused the offer, and instructed Lahiru to return to Sri Lanka immediately.

He was arrested as he attempted to leave Maldives, on October 24, the same date as Adeeb was arrested.

Yasas said that the key member of the group of Maldivians turned up with a statement for him to sign less than five hours later.

The statement said that Lahiru has been hired by Adeeb to kill President Yameen.

Yasas said that he had refused to sign it.

He said that a team of three Maldivian police officers had turned up a week after the arrest, but that he had refused to give them a statement.

Yasas said in the interview that the group of Maldivians made frequent trips to Sri Lanka, often to wait until their visas to other countries were approved, and that they made frequent nighttime trips to deliver packages of money.

Yasas admitted that he still maintained contact with the Maldivians, and had in fact met with some of them very recently.