Was Madush kneeling or upright when death claimed him?

by Hemantha Randunu

“Let’s get out of here Muthumali, Danny Mahattaya is going out of control; his henchmen won’t leave us alone!” Madush told his wife Muthumali, foreseeing the shape of things to come. Yet his wife pooh-poohed his demand.

In 2002, the Chairman of the Southern Provincial Development Authority was Danny Hiththetiyage, a well known politician in the South. Hiththetiyage had begun to stealthily take over several lands belonging to Madush’s father. Due to this land issue, a rift had developed between Madush’s and Danny Hittatiyage’s families. Yet not in his wildest dreams would Madush have thought that this would change his life forever.

Samarasinghe Arachchige Madush Lakshitha was born on February 24, 1979, in Gathara outside Kamburupitiya. He was educated at Kamburupitiya Maha Vidyalaya and Karandeniya National School. Madush had a sister and a brother. His father, Samarasinghe Arachchige Lakshman, was an engraver, a peaceful man from Gathara. His mother was Malani Samarasinghe, an active member of the JVP.

By 1989, Madush had turned 10. He was very close to his mother and used to follow her wherever she went. During the 88/89 insurgency, government security forces were hard line in their policy of bumping off JVP members. Madush’s mother was killed after returning home from a JVP rally. Her untimely death traumatized Madush. His father had little interest in his children. He just let them be.

Madush’s aunt was the saving grace for him and his siblings. She and his grandmother took the responsibility of raising them. During that time Madush and his family had to face various hardships despite which he passed the GCE Ordinary Level Examination. But due to persistent economic issues, he had to drop out of school and face the challenges of life quite early on.

Cupid then made its move on Madush. He went through a whirlwind romance with a woman called Dayani Muthumali but they did not receive the blessings of their elders. Muthumali’s parents did not want to give their daughter in marriage to Madush who was loafing around Kamburupitiya without a proper education or job. All he wanted at the time was to marry the woman he loved and to do this he knew he would have to find a job, and establish himself as a suitable spouse.

Madush tried his luck as a tractor driver and then drove a three-wheeler and was an employee at Nihal Motors; later he was a truck driver under a businessman called Amarasinghe in Ratmalana. He returned to his village as a private bus driver. He was not satisfied with any of the jobs he had. He wanted to earn a lot of money, but with his lack of qualifications he found this hard to achieve. Nevertheless, he continued to woo Muthumali.

Madush married her in 1998 when he turned 19. The couple returned to his home in Kamburupitiya. They both got minor jobs at Matara Hospital. Around this time the rift between his and Danny Hiththetiyage’s families surfaced and widened.

With all this drama going on, Madush became a father in 2002. His first son was born with health problems. There were other problems too. Muthumali began to encounter several advances from a relative of Hiththetiyage.

That enraged Madush. He vowed to teach the Hiththetiyages a lesson. After the birth of their son the couple lived in Makandura at Muthumali’s parents’ house and in Kamburupitiya in turn.

“If I do not teach them a lesson, my wife and child will not be able to live in peace,” he said to himself. So he decided to teach a lesson to Upananda, a brother-in-law of Danny Hiththetiyage, who tended to harass Madush’s family frequently. In 2002, Madush shot Upananda at Kamburupitiya. This murder turned out to be his first crime. After the shooting, Madush parted from his wife and child and fled.

He knew an underworld criminal called Unathurupe Shantha. Having fled Kamburupitiya, he met Shantha and revealed everything that had happened. Shantha took Madush under his wing and recruited him to a life of crime. Money and the promise of riches was what Madush was after, and as events later transpired, he was to have both in life.

Along with Shantha and his gang, he started robbing financial institutions and leasing companies across the country. They were soon loaded with cash. More than ten leasing companies and financial institutions in Negombo, Kuliyapitiya and Galle were raided and robbed of tens of millions of rupees by their gang.

In 2006, the OIC of the Peliyagoda Crimes Division was Priyantha Jayakody, currently the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Crime and Organized Crime Division. Jayakody and his officers had been conducting operations for months to nab the gang. Eventually, this gang, including Madush and Unathurupe Shantha, were captured while hiding in a cave in Wariyapola. At the time Madush was merely known as “Madush of Kamburupitiya.”

While being questioned by OIC Jayakody, Madush revealed his bitterness towards his enemy: “Sir, it was Danny Hiththatige who dragged me into this life. I will send him to the afterlife someday. I can’t sleep until he’s gone.”

Later Jayakody took the initiative to inform Danny Hiththetiyage about the impending threat which went unnoticed and worse, unheeded. The gang, including Madush, were meanwhile jailed. Madush, in the Negombo prison began plotting to murder the Chairman of the Southern Province Development Authority.

At the Negombo prison Madush befriended Nissanka, a deserter from the Army Commando Unit. Madush realized at the time that Nissanka, imprisoned for several crimes, was the right person to use to kill Danny Hiththetiyage. Madush presented his plan to Nissanka, a talented marksman, and took steps to get him bailed out and set his plan in motion. On June 11, 2006, Nissanka and another underworld gang member shot and killed Danny Hiththetiyage in front of his house in Makandura.

The assassination of Danny Hiththetiyage shook not only the Southern Province, but also the whole country. The murder was initially suspected to be part of a political conspiracy, but the truth of the matter was later revealed.

Madush paid Nissanka Rs. 350,000 for his services. After this incident Madush acquired notoriety throughout the underworld. During his time in prison he established various connections among criminals, among them the LTTE member, Ice Manju who was plotting to assassinate then President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Ice Manju wanted help from Madush to carry out this plan offering him five million to do the job. But for some reason the plan did not proceed. Makandure Madush, who was held in the Negombo Prison for five years, was released on bail in 2011.

At that time the plot to assassinate Mahinda Rajapaksa by the LTTE was being investigated by the Terrorist Investigation Division. The TID revealed that after his release from prison, Madush conspired with the LTTE and he was arrested again by them and held for a year and a half.

He had to be released after the authorities failed to prove the conspiracies surrounding the assassination attempt on the president. His association thereafter with Maligawatte Kanjipani Imran and Kotahena Tipdon, who had become the masterminds of the Colombo heroin network, changed Madush’s life.

“There is no point in breaking into houses and robbing them and carrying out contract murders to earn a living. You have to do something big,” they told Madush who was recruited as their partner in the drug trade. At that time there are where several underworld gangs after him together with the military and the forces; so he quickly moved to get out of Sri Lanka and, with the help of Kanjipani Imran and Tipdon, established himself in Dubai.

He managed the Sri Lankan underworld from Dubai with the help of his henchmen here. After a while Kanjipani Imran also came to Dubai and the duo began to spread their wings over the heroin trade, not only in Sri Lanka but also in foreign countries like Maldives, Malaysia, and Thailand. Although he took a second wife, Madush took care of his legal wife and child by providing financial assistance. He continued his underworld activities with great precision all the way from Dubai.

It was Madush who drew out and executed the plan to assassinate Samayan by attacking the prison bus at Ethanamadala, Kalutara. The attack took place exactly as Madush had planned. Following the attack, Madush arranged for Angoda Lokka and Ladiya to be brought to India by sea from Kalpitiya. With the help of the members of his international heroin network, Madush was able to bring Angoda Lokka and Ladiya to Dubai.

After Madush’s friend Riskhan was killed by the Kaduwela underworld, he took every possible step to find the killer: Kos Malli. He kidnapped him and proceeded to cut his head off and to have it delivered to the Court Complex in Colombo, displaying his cruelty as well as his power. The extravagant funeral of Madush’s father showed the extent of the man’s power and wealth as well.

Madush’s mission of ambushing the narcotics officer in Piliyandala using a spy inside the Narcotics Department showcased his knowledge and proved why he was known as the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Underworld. His elaborate plan to loot a diamond worth seven million rupees was the biggest such case in the history of the country.

Meanwhile in Dubai, Morrill, one of Madush’s rivals, received information that Madush’s small daughter’s birthday party was being held on a grand scale at a hotel in Dubai. Morrill was in close contact with several senior Dubai police officers at the time. He also knew that drugs including cocaine would be brought to this party. He gave an anonymous tip to the Dubai Police and Madush and his henchmen were captured. After several months, the Dubai government finally extradited the Godfather of Sri Lanka home, in deference to requests made by the Sri Lankan Police.

Under the supervision of Senior DIG in charge of the Western Province Deshabandu Tennakoon, Director of the Colombo Crimes Division SSP G. J. Nandana, ASP Neville Silva, and other officers, Madush was taken to the Colombo Crimes Division and two days later, on information provided by him, heroin worth over Rs. 100 million was uncovered in Kotikawatta. Madush was held by the CID for a year and a half.

The police continued investigations to seize more stocks of heroin. On information provided by Madush, he was taken to the Lakshitha Sevana housing scheme in Maligawatta allegedly to ferret out another stock of heroin. But this time Madush found not the drug stash but death. The Godfather of the Sri Lankan underworld died by a bullet through his head, at last reaping what he had sowed.

(Tranlated by Uditha Devapriya)