Sri Lanka’s Chief Government Censor Slain by Gunmen
- Share via
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The chief government censor was shot and killed Sunday, police and witnesses said.
Themis Guruge, who also headed the government-owned radio station, was taking a walk near his home at Polhengoda, four miles southeast of Colombo, when he was shot by two unidentified gunmen riding in a white car, police said on condition of anonymity.
Guruge, 60, a well-known broadcaster, was named head of the government’s four-person censorship committee two weeks ago. Censorship on local and foreign press reports was imposed amid escalating ethnic violence and a growing dispute between India and Sri Lanka over the presence of a 40,000-member Indian peacekeeping force.
Guruge, a Sinhalese, was appointed chairman of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corp. two months ago.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
Whitney Haggins hopes to break ground using a design from The Foothill Catalog. Given her story, we re-air our conversation with Alex Athenson, co-founder of The Foothill Catalog Foundation.
Attorney Frank Carson was acquitted of murder. When the star witness admitted lying, Stanislaus County agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle the malicious prosecution suit.
Whaddya know – the feds work with CA’s “queen of green.” The Golden State gets “secret recipe” gas, but new partners mean new frictions over the familiar smog check program.
