April 01, Colombo (LNW): The Colombo High Court has handed down a death sentence to notorious underworld figure K.M. Sarath Bandara, widely known as ‘SF Sarath’, after finding him guilty of murdering a man in Borella in 2014.
Delivering the verdict today (01), High Court Judge Nawarathne Marasinghe ruled that SF Sarath was directly responsible for the fatal shooting of Hettiarachchige Duminda inside a salon in Wanathamulla, Borella, on August 01, 2014.
The ruling marks the conclusion of a prolonged legal battle, which saw multiple defendants facing trial over their alleged involvement in the crime.
While SF Sarath received the maximum penalty, the court acquitted and ordered the release of three other accused individuals, including the notorious underworld figure Chaminda Ravi Jayanath, known as ‘Dematagoda Chaminda’.
The judge ruled that the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient evidence to convict them.
The case, which dates back over a decade, was part of a broader crackdown on organised crime and contract killings in Sri Lanka. SF Sarath, a known enforcer in the underworld, was accused of carrying out the targeted assassination as part of an ongoing turf war. Authorities believe the murder was linked to criminal rivalries and disputes within Colombo’s underworld networks.
