Sri Lanka party leader gunned down in drive-by shooting

Colombo: A Sri Lankan political party leader was killed Monday along with four others, authorities said, in a rare drive-by shooting. Police said the motive was unclear, but that Saman Perera, chairman of the Our Power of People Party, appeared to be the main target of the attack.

Perera´s party has a seat in Sri Lanka´s 225-member legislature, although he was not an MP himself. He was gunned down in the southern town of Beliatta, nearly 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of the capital Colombo. Police said his vehicle had stopped at a roadside restaurant when gunmen in a pickup truck opened fire and then sped off. They said they were aware of a feud between Perera and a local criminal boss, a connection that local media have also reported. The shooting came as police backed by soldiers carried out a nationwide anti-crime operation which has seen more than 44,000 people arrested in a mass crackdown.