Chennai

Chanuka Thananayaka was arrested on Saturday, while Jayapal alias Gopalakrishnan, 46, was also taken into custody for sheltering him.

According to Coimbatore police, Thananayaka was one of the most wanted criminals in Sri Lanka.

Both of them were produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate, Coimbatore, Sanjeevi Bhaskar, who sent them to judicial custody on Saturday night.

Lokka passed away in Coimbatore on July 3, 2020 due to cardiac arrest. He was in hiding at Coimbatore and police arrested Madurai-based lawyer, Sivakami Sundar for sheltering him. Her friend Dhyaneswaran was also arrested for helping Lokka stay with a different identity. 

Lokka's lover Amani Dhanji, who was staying with him at Coimbatore, was also arrested and the three told police during interrogation that Lokka's pistol was with Thananayaka.

It was a tip-off to CB-CID Superintendent, P. Sivakumar that led to the arrest of Thananayaka after police traced him to Banswadi in Bengaluru. He was tracked at an apartment at Banaswadi owned by the sister of Gopalakrishnan and the police arrested the duo.

Gopalakrishnan was on bail after being arrested by the Kancheepuram 'Q' branch police in a case related to the shelter extended to another Sri Lankan national, Suresh who was arrested a few months before. Gopalakrishnan had come out on bail, in that case, a couple of months before.

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