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| Faraz Shauketaly is being treated at GH, Colombo |
Easwaran Rutnam
Faraz Shauketaly, a journalist attached to The Sunday Leader newspaper was shot at by unidentified gunmen at his house in Hotel Road, Mount Lavinia late on Friday night.
Eyewitnesses said they saw three men running away from his room following the shooting incident. Shauketaly received bullet injuries in his neck and was admitted to the Kalubowila Hospital.
The house in which he is staying is also a mini guest house. A group of foreign tourists who had checked in a day earlier said they heard a commotion and screams and when they opened the door leading to Shauketaly room they found blood all over his body.
“We then realized what had happened and got his car keys and rushed him to hospital,” one tourist said.
Doctors at the Kalubowila hospital said that shrapnel from the bullet had got lodged on his lower neck close to the shoulder.
Shauketaly was transferred to the Colombo National Hospital and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) yesterday.
Director of the National Hospital Dr Anil Jayasinghe said that tests are being carried out on Shauketaly as the object, believed to be part of a bullet, was still in his body.
“His condition is stable but we need to observe him and carry out more tests on the object in his body,” Dr Jayasinghe told The Sunday Leader.
The Mount Lavinia police said they were investigating the incident and had recorded statements from eye witnesses. They also had provided security to Shauketaly in hospital.
Meanwhile President Mahinda Rajapaksa hs ordered a special investigatio into the incident.
President’s spokesman Mohan Samaranayake said that the police chief has been ordered to investigate the incident.
SL
Was journalist shot because of adverse ‘ Norochcholai’ report ?
There is intense speculation as to the reason why Sunday Leader journalist, Faraz Shauketaly was shot by unknown gunmen.
The special police investigation into the shooting incident is reported to be also focusing on whether investigative report by the injured journalist published in the ‘Sunday Leader’ recently , on the Norochcholoi power plant was an underlying cause.
Mr. Shauketaly had stated in his investigative report that that thre was a lot of corruption involved in the importing of coal to the power plant. His article to published in Sunday Leader was titled ‘ CEB Fails To Stop Payment Of Rs. 793 Million To Controversial Coal Supplier’ go to : http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2013/01/06/ceb-fails-to-stop-payment-of-rs-793-million-to-controversial-coal-supplier/
Shauketaly had mentioned on an earlier occasion that he had faced threats but had not reported the matter to the police.
Two prominent businessman, Mr. Ravi Wijeratne and Mr. Jehan Amaeratunga had made much effort to obtain the tender but proved unsuccessful.
However, President Mahinda Raapaksa has instructed the IGL to conduct an immediate inquiry into this incident, according to Presidential spokesman Mr. Mohan Samaranayake
Mr. Faraz Shauketaly, journalist in Sunday leader was shot at by unknown gunmen at his house in Barnes Avenue in Mount Lavinia Hotel road in the early hours of today
He was first rushed to the Kalubowila Teaching hospital and presently is being teated at the Colombo National Hospital Intensive Care unit.
Doctors at the hospital said that shrapnel from the bullet had got lodged on his lower neck close to the shoulder.
Director of Sri Lanka’s National Hospital Dr. Anil Jayasinghe said that Shauketaly has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital and tests are being carried out on the object believed to be part of a bullet which is still in his body.
Shauketaly had mentioned on an earlier occasion that he had faced threats but had not reported the matter to the police.
SLM
Attempt To Silence The Pen, Again?
Easwaran Rutnam
What was an vibrant Friday night at The Sunday Leader newspaper last week turned into shock and horror as news reached us that one of our colleagues had been shot.
Just minutes earlier The Sunday Leader senior journalist Faraz w was on the telephone with Deputy Chief Sub Editor Saro Thiruppathy clarifying one of his stories.
Suddenly the telephone line got cut. Saro tried and tried to get through to Faraz again on the telephone but failed.
Eventually news reached us that he had been shot. The Editorial team rushed to the Kalubowila hospital where he had been admitted.
It was here that the sequence of events of what had taken place became more clear. Faraz had been shot at by a group of unidentified men in his house at Hotel Road in Mount Lavinia.
Eyewitnesses said they saw three men running away from his room following the shooting incident.
The house in which Faraz is staying is also a mini guest house. A group of foreign tourists who had checked in a day earlier said they heard a commotion and screams on the night of the shooting.
“We heard Faraz shouting and banging on our door. When we opened the door we saw him covered in blood. We then realized what had happened and got his car keys and rushed him to hospital,” one tourist said.
Faraz had mentioned on an earlier occasion that he had faced threats but had not reported the matter to the police.
Doctors at the Kalubowila hospital said that shrapnel from the bullet had got lodged on his lower neck close to the shoulder.
Faraz had later requested to be transferred to a private hospital but the hospital said they do not admit patients with gun-shot injuries.
He was later transferred to the Colombo National hospital. Director of the National hospital Dr Anil Jayasinghe said that Faraz was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit for further observations.
“He is stable but we need to observe his condition very carefully. We are carrying out some tests on the object in his body,” Dr Jayasinghe told The Sunday Leader.
The police yesterday recorded statements from eye witnesses and conducted investigations at the site of the shooting.
The shooting incident drew dark memories of attacks on The Sunday Leader newspaper, the most shocking being the assassination of the founder Editor of The Sunday Leader in January 2009.
However one thing is certain, the attack on Faraz will not deter the newspaper, as it continues to remain unbowed and unafraid.