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| Sunday, 22 May 2005 |
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Fingerprint experts to seal fate of daring killers Crime Sunday by Jaympathy Jayasinghe When somebody informed the Colombo Emergency police on 27 March 2005 that a man named Seelan had been stabbed to death in a house at Havelock Town, Colombo 5, two hours had almost lapsed. The Emergency Police informed Narahenpita police about the murder. When the police arrived at Udyanpura they found a man lying dead on his bed. The bed sheet was soaked with patches of dried blood. According to police the victim was stabbed to death around 5.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. What was strange was that no one heard any screams or a commotion despite a hotel being next door. The victim was an unmarried person who led a solitary life in an annexe behind a hotel. He owned the hotel premises but the business was carried out by some one else. Seelan was nicknamed as Ratharan by people in the neighbourhood because he had a penchant for gold jewellery. A kind of an exhibitionist who wore 10 gold rings on his fingers to impress others. He also wore thick gold chains around his neck. The collection of gold jewellery included chains, rings, pendants etc. He never thought that some one would kill him and rob his gold jewellery but that's exactly what happened. Police found 23 visible stab injuries on his body. A gruesome pre-meditated murder. Why was he ruthlessly stabbed many times? Was it because he was so hated by his enemies or was it simply to rob the gold jewellery, thought Inspector Gnanaratne. The police were simply baffled because they had no clue whatsoever. There weren't any eye witnesses either. Even if someone knew about the killing no one had come forward to inform the police. Seelan was an unmarried man who lived a carefree life in his annexe at Udyanapura at Havelock road. He was also a money lender and had a vast clientele around Havelock Road. He wasn't least concerned about his safety as people used to visit him regularly to borrow money. He became the envy of three wheeler drivers who used to park their vehicles opposite his annexe. They saw him often with his gold rings on his fingers and thick gold chains. They had a vague notion that he had gold rings, chains, pendants worth several thousands. It all happened in March this year when five three wheeler drivers hatched a conspiracy to kill Seelan and rob all his gold jewellery. The time was between 6.30 P.M. and 7.00 P.M. when five three wheeler drivers entered Seelan's house under the cover of darkness. No one saw them stealthily tip toeing into the house. The leader of the gang instructed one man to remain at the entrance to the house to keep a lookout, while four others entered the annexe. Another person stood near the bedroom while three men barged inside. Seelan was lying on the bed when he confronted the three assassins. They pounced on him and started stabbing him all over. He valiantly fought back unarmed but was soon overpowered by the assassins. They stabbed him several times until he collapsed and fell on the bed. The suspects then vanished leaving behind a trail of blood. They removed a haul of the gold jewellery which included gold chains, pendants, rings which were concealed in a safe. They also took away the blood stained knives. Several hours later the Narahenpita police visited the Udyanapura annexe with the Police Finger Print experts. They found several prints on the safe. Meanwhile the suspects went into hiding to a relative's house at Wellampitiya. They hid the knives in a shrub jungle and spent the night there. The loot which they robbed was worth a fortune. They mapped out a plan to dispose of the loot. On the following day they visited several pawn broking shops at Kottawa, Maharagama, Pettah, Kollupitiya. Having pawned the jewellery the robbers divided the cash among them. Two months lapsed but there was no clue forthcoming. OIC Crimes Narahenpita, Inspector Gunaratne, P.S. 27585 Chandrasoma, P.C. 33915 Asoka, P.C. 8911 Pushpakumar, P.C. 137861 Amarasooriya along with OIC Narahenpita Inspector Ranagala were relentlessly working around the clock to solve the case. It was a marvellous piece of detective work. A private informant then spills the beans to a Police Constable. Following the tip off, five three Wheeler drivers in the same neighbourhood were arrested. They confessed to the murder and the robbery. The gold jewellery was recovered from the pawn broking shops. The
suspects were later taken before Court and remanded till investigations are
completed. Police are now awaiting a report from the Finger Print experts
whether the prints found on the safe are those of the suspects. |
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