Courtesy Deccan Herald

Sri Lanka’s underworld gangster Angoda Lokka, who was hiding in Coimbatore under the name of Pradeep Singh for the past two years, died on July 3 under mysterious circumstances. Three people, who claimed to be the kingpin’s relative and cremated his body in Madurai after taking it from Coimbatore by road, have now been arrested.

Lokka, whose real name is Maddumage Lasantha Chandana Perera, is understood to have been living in the industrial city of Coimbatore since 2018, following his escape from Sri Lanka.

Amani Thanji, a Sri Lankan national who was living with him, Sivagami Sundari from Madurai and Dyaneswaran from Tiruppur have been arrested for helping Lokka procure fake documents and cremating him in Madurai.

Since the case has international ramifications, Tamil Nadu government transferred the probe to its CB-CID wing. The Coimbatore Police began a probe after it received an input from Sri Lankan Government that Lokka was murdered in the city. Sri Lanka believes Lokka was poisoned to death in Coimbatore.

Police said Lokka was taken to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital on July 3 by the trio who said he has suffered a cardiac arrest. The trio, who claimed to have been his relatives, admitted Lokka as Pradeep Singh and produced Aadhar card and other documents as proof to the hospital authorities.

After Lokka was declared dead, the trio collected his body and travelled to Madurai for cremation, the reason for which is not known immediately. The trio had produced the aforementioned documents for travelling to Madurai for the cremation.