Former State Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, known as Pillayan, has been ordered to remain in remand custody until September 15. The court made the order at a hearing held by Zoom, the Batticaloa Magistrate’s Court record shows. Two army intelligence informants arrested with him were remanded on the same conditions.
The Acting Magistrate conducted the hearing remotely and produced the three accused from prison. Lakbima News examined the court record and a copy of the remand order.
The case relates to incidents in 2008: the shooting of two people, including a police officer, in Kalladi; the killing of two people, one identified as a TMVP party member, in Kattankudy; and the abduction and murder of a businessman in the Vavunativu–Kareiyan Kandy area. These locations and incidents match the particulars listed in the charges filed by investigators.
Pillayan and informants Mohamed Sifan and Mohamed Sakeed were arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department in November 2025 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, court documents show.
On June 17, 2026, the CID filed charges against the three and against Mohamed Faiz, a London resident named in the indictment. The defendants have been remanded continuously since those filings, according to the court file.
At today’s hearing the Acting Magistrate reviewed submissions from the prosecution and ordered the continued remand of Pillayan, Sifan and Sakeed until September 15. The court also reissued an open warrant for Faiz, who remains at large in London, the remand sheet shows.(Lakbima News)
