Underworld gangsters Lasantha Chandana Perera aka Angoda Lokka and his close associate Athurugiriya Ladiya, the main suspects in the attack on the prison bus in Kalutara are believed to have escaped from the detention facility they were being held at in Chennai, India on Friday.
According to reliable sources, the duo may have presented falsified documents to obtain their release from prison, thereby allowing them to evade the team of Sri Lankan Police officers who were in India at the time to apprehend them.
According to sources, the team had left for India to seek the extradition of the suspects to the island to face multiple criminal charges.
The gangsters are believed to be on the run and is still on Indian soil. Sources say underworld leader Makandura Madhush operating from Dubai had masterminded the escape. Rumours were rife at the time the gangsters were arrested, that they would make an attempt to escape.
The two suspects who had left Sri Lanka by boat for India after the attack, were arrested in Chennai, India on May 23 when attempting to leave the country using a forged passport through the airport to Dubai.
Seven suspects including underworld figure Aruna Udaya Shantha alias Samayan and two prisons officials were killed, in the prison bus attack carried out by the duo and several others, when the bus carrying prisoners was shot at in Ethanamadala, Kalutara on February 27.
Police launched a massive manhunt following the incident to arrest the culprits and eight people were arrested on charges of aiding and abetting these underworld figures to carry out the attack.
Police suspect that this group may have also been involved in the attack on IP Neomal Rangajeewa and several Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) officers in Piliyandala recently.