Body taken to be thrown into Kelani Ganga ....
intercepted by police night patrol
"Malli slowly came and was intimate with my wife ....
I dealt a blow with a club and killed"
- murderer-relative says
A half-burnt dead body which was being transported in a van with the intention of being dumped into
Kelani Ganga was intercepted by police officers of Athurugiriya who were on night patrol in Kahanthota area, Malabe and two suspects were taken into custody with the body last Saturday night.
An army deserter living in Poddala area in Galle by the name of Prasad Janaka has supposed to have had an illicit connection and has been murdered by his own relatives and they had been on their way transporting the victim to be thrown into the river and were caught by the police at which point they had tried to offer a bribe;but since it was rejected the story about the murder has thus been unravelled. After having dealt a blow with an iron club and murdering him the two suspects getting together with some others had set fire to his body in Polwatta area, Madapatha, Piliyandala. Later when they had been transporting the dead body of this person Prasad Janaka in a van to be thrown into Kelani Ganga they were cordoned in this manner.
A police constable and a civil security guard of Athurugiriya Police who were on night patrol duty had stopped a van on suspicion of being driven being halted from place to place and had thus made an observation on it. This is how they spoke about it:
"When we were engaged in night patrol day-before-yesterday in Kahanthota we came across a suspicious van. This van which was being driven was stopped from place to place. After seeing our motor cycle the van accelerated its speed. I and civil security guard Ratnayaka pursued this van and after overtaking it, stopped in front of it. Â One of the suspects in the van said, 'aney .... we have a party .... we're going soon for the party'. Whatever they said, we checked the vehicle. Then I saw a blackened dead body. On seeing it we both were surprised. They started saying various things. At the last moment they said that they were searching for a lonely place to throw the dead body which had been set on fire. Since we didn't accept the money of the suspects we were able to find the story of the killing from the beginning".
The victim who has been murdered in this way is a deserter of the army aged 33 years living in Poddala, Galle. This youth who had been in and out of a relative's house and had started an illicit relationship with the wife of a relative of his in that house. Last weekend when he had visited that house and was intimate with her the relative husband happened to come there suddenly and the two of them had been caught red-handed in a compromising situation. During the conflict that took place on that occasion the husband concerned had been motivated to hit the youth with a club and murder him. Â Subsequently another relative living in Athurugiriya had been contacted and thereafter the body has been transported in a van to Athurugiriya Pore Cemetery where petrol was poured on the dead body and had been set on fire so that the face would be disfigured with tyres being used in addition to complete the act.
They had decided to throw the half-burnt body into Kelani Ganga before it was totally burned as it was already burned beyond identification because of the doubt that a problem could arise if even a part of the body is found. However before their plan was realised they were cordoned in the process. The victim and both the main two suspects were early inhabitants of Galle, it was revealed. "I couldn't bear seeing malli with my wife. That's why I hit him with a club and killed him. But it was because of the fear that if the dead body would be found there would be a problem that he was burned. Later I thought that even that won't be enough .... that it would be okay if it was thrown into the river. It was when going like that we got caught', the main suspect had confessed.
The van of the Mazda type in which the body was conveyed is still kept in that spot for investigation purposes. Anura Dilip who was resident in Galle, Watareka, Deniyawatta area and Peter Joseph Sarath (53) living in Athurugiriya, Boralugoda who were in the van were both taken into custody. The two of them are supposed to be the brothers-in-law of the victim. Subsequently, 2 others connected to the murder also have been arrested by Piliyandala Police. Police investigations are underway.