Sampath Lakmal

New York, August 29, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by reports that veteran Sri Lankan journalist Nadarajah Guruparan is missing and feared abducted in Colombo today.

The Free Media Movement, a local press group, reported that Guruparan, a producer, left for work at the privately owned Tamil-language radio station Sooriyan, or Sun FM, around 4 a.m. Guruparan’s family later found his empty car near his house with the engine still running and his mobile phone on the driver’s seat, The Associated Press reported, citing a colleague who requested anonymity.

New York, July 5, 2006 — The body of freelance reporter Sampath Lakmal, a contributor to the Sinhala-language weekly Sathdina, was found in a southern suburb of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo on Sunday. He had been shot after leaving his house to meet a contact on Saturday night, according to local media reports and the Colombo-based Free Media Movement (FMM).

The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating to determine the motive behind his killing.