Vengeance

Gang kills youth in Wattala:

Janaka Vasantha was an unemployed young man. He was 21 years old. Although an adult, his reckless style of doing things remained with him. Being a drug peddlar he led a carefree life with his friends roaming about in the Wattala-Hunupitiya area.

His closest buddies in the area were known as Imithias, Achu, Tobby and Neil. They were a bunch of criminals in the area. The track record of these men showed that they were involved in several house-breaking cases in the Wattala-Hunupitiya area according to the Kiribathgoda police.

The men knew that the police were after them. This was due to their involvement in peddling drugs in the area. The men were also aware of the harsh punishments imposed by the courts for drug related offenses.

Imithias was the mastermind of the group who thought differently from others. He was able to see things from a different perspective altogether. He knew that if convicted and sentenced to jail for a drug related offence, he would have to languish in jail for several years. Fear dominated his mind.

He wanted to deviate from the 'drug-business and do something else. So he decided to pirate VCD movies and sell them to people in the Trincomalee area. He knew there was a good demand for such VCDs in the area.

Ultimately the gamble paid off and Imithias made good money selling pirated VCDs. However things took a different turn on March 2, with the disappearance of Janaka Vasantha (21) from his home at Nandananda Mawatha Wattala -Hunupitiya. Before leaving home that night he told his mother that he would return soon.

It was around 8 p.m. when he left home. But Janaka never returned home that night to the anguish of his mother. On the following day she made inquiries from his close friends but could not gather any information from them.

Two days later the mother lodged a complaint at the Wattala police about the disappearance of her son and the police launched an investigation into the incident.

Several months passed without any result. Nobody knew exactly what happened to him except his closet friends. But they pretended nothing serious had happened to him.

That night Janaka joined his group of friends Imithias, Achu, Toby, and Neil at a lonely house situated near a paddyfield at Hunupitiya, Wattala.

The house was in pitch darkness and the five men squatted on the verandah and smoked Cannabis (ganja). They soon became intoxicated with the fumes of the Canabis.

Meanwhile an argument ensued between Janaka and Imithias over the death of Imithias' brother-in-law. Imithias alleged that Janaka had tipped off a rival gang about the whereabouts of his brother-in-law named "Suddha".

The gang killed Suddha by stabbing him to death. However when the argument became hot, Janaka left the premises saying that he would return after fetching a candle from home.

During his absence Imithias, conspired with Achu, Tobby and Neil to kill Janaka when he returns. Imithias' main grouse was that Janaka Vasantha had a hand in killing his brother-in-law. They were also envious that Janaka prospered because of the drug trade.

The horrible thing happened when Janaka returned with a candle in his hand. The four men pounced on him and held him tightly while Imithias strangled him to death with a wire tied around his neck. It was a vengeance killing.

When Janaka's heartbeat stopped and his body became cold, his clothes were stripped off him, and set on fire. The four men thereafter removed his body to a marshy land close by where it was buried.

After several months the body surfaced from the spot from where it was buried. Alarmed by the surfacing of the body the four suspects got together one night and doused the body with kerosine oil and set it on fire. The unburnt parts of the body were put inside a bag and thrown into a stream close by.

Following the disappearance of Janaka Vasantha, people at Wattala- Hunupitiya began gossiping about foul play. Several months passed by without a clue. No one was arrested due to insufficient evidence. But the investigation bore results a few months ago when the Wattala- Hunupitiya area came under the jurisdiction of the Kiribathgoda police.

OIC Kiribathgoda Police Station, Chief Inspector Samarakoon Banda was tipped off about the murder suspects. A team from Kiribathgoda police arrested Achu and Tobby, the two suspects involved in the murder.

Further questioning of the suspects led to the arrest of the main suspect Imithias and his accomplice Neil. They were produced before court and remanded till investigations are over. OIC Crimes Kiribathgoda Police Station, Inspector A. Devapriya is investigating the murder.

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